


The Antarian Timetravellers

by maipigen



Category: Roswell (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Canon Rewrite, F/M, Gen, Love, Original Plot, Redemption, Time Travel, but not only, but then again, like a lot, posted on ffnet already, shifting pov's, so not a rewrite, twists and turns like you wouldn't believe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-02-22 17:58:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 36
Words: 251,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2516747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maipigen/pseuds/maipigen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Max, Michael and Isabel have given up after losing the last of their human friends in the heated alien war. Then Max remembers how Liz once told him that the Granolith could be used as a timemachine...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Isabel,Michael and Max

 

 

CHAPTER ONE  
  
Isabel's POV  
  
The flaring pain woke Isabel up and she sat up with a hoarse gasp, clutching at her chest as her heart raced wildly. Her head pounded and all she wanted was to close her eyes and forget that horrible, impossible dream she'd had.  
  
Wait, this isn't the podchamber? Isabel thought and looked around with disbelieving eyes.  
  
The almost forgotten setting that met her gaze made her eyes burn and she forced herself to swallow through the big lump in her throat.  
  
Suddenly, she heard a fast approaching sound and just as she turned her head towards her door – my door! – It burst open and Max all but fell through it uncharacteristically ungraceful in his haste.  
  
If Isabel had had any doubts about the success of their plan, the vision of her brother in the doorway to her old bedroom in the Evans house, vanished them immediately.  
  
This young man looked like Max before he'd been burdened with the responsibilities of a born again King. Before the White Room happened, before Liz's death...  
  
"Oh my-"Isabel began, but couldn't continue as her eyes scanned her younger looking brother with a hunger she could feel in her very being.  
  
"It worked," was all Max muttered.  
  
The two siblings broke their staring contest and let their eyes linger around Isabel's bedroom. A moment later, Isabel was on her feet and she hurried over to the full length mirror by her closet.  
  
Unable to stop herself, Isabel grinned foolishly and grabbed a chunk of her long, silky locks and turned back to the still immobile Max. "I'm blonde again."  
  
Max didn't return the smile, but simply nodded seriously in agreement – and it was at that moment that Isabel truly realized that young they might look, but their experiences had aged them and come along with them.  
  
"Do-Do you know when we are?" Isabel could hardly get the question through her lips and she grabbed a brush and began attacking her long, filtered locks, trying to distract herself.  
  
Max sighed and looked behind him, obviously checking that they weren't being overheard and stepped fully inside her room. "Not yet – but I figured we'd stop by Crashdown and make some subtle observations."  
  
"Okay," Isabel agreed and finally having done all she could to her hair, she turned back to Max and asked, "What happens now Max?"  
  
Max's jaw clenched for a second and Isabel nearly cursed herself. Once again, I automatically put all the responsibility on Max's shoulders – no wonder, he's always so serious.  
  
"We fix things."  
  
"MAX! IZZIE!"  
  
The two hybrids instantly tensed and then had to fight off their instinctive battle formations when they recognized their mother's voice. "There's a phone call for you, it's Michael, and he says it's important!"  
  
Isabel slapped her forehead unladylike and heard Max curse softly. "I can't believe we forgot about him!"  
  
Michael's POV  
  
"Argh damn it! That stupid boy messin' 'round with the food. Boy! Where's the food at?"  
  
Michael woke with a start and instantly groaned in pain. It was burning through his entire body and he gritted his teeth for a second.  
  
"What a weird ass dream," he muttered and rubbed his eyes. In the next second, he realized two things; one he wasn't in the podchamber where he'd been last time he checked, and two; he was in a so called bedroom in a trailer he had never expected to see again.  
  
The thin door into said room banged open and another person walked in, a person who Michael certainly hadn't wanted to see again. Ever.  
  
"Boy! Answer me when I'm talking to ya."  
  
Michael blinked. "Hank?"  
  
Hank, Michael's once upon a time foster dad, who'd been killed by Nasedo, stood wobbling in the doorway looking anything but sober.  
  
Apparently Michael's confusion served to placate the older man and he snorted in disgust and walked away without another word.  
  
Michael slowly sat up and looked around the room again. It was like he remembered it. Small, smelly and messy with books and half finished papers lying around in-between empty take out boxes and Tabasco sauce. His dirty clothes were thrown around the place and Michael smirked before he could help himself.  
  
Maria would have a cow if she saw this, he thought, but then his mood darkened immediately and his heart clenched in agony. Maria wouldn't see him mess up his room, she was dead and gone – which was why he was having this extremely vivid dream of the past. I'm probably passed out drunk in the podchamber, Michael surmised.  
  
Oh crap! The pod chamber!  
  
Max, Isabel and he had been hiding out in the one place where no one could reach them, let alone Khivar's men. Hurting desperately over the loss of the last two human's in their family. They'd broken all their own rules in their massive grief. They'd been drinking and been violently ill because of it of course, but for a few hours their memories of the past didn't hurt, so they kept doing it.  
  
Then one day, while Khivar's soldiers had paused in their never-ending attempt of getting inside to them, Max had mentioned something about Liz telling him about using the Granolith as a time machine.  
  
Wait – if I'm here so are Max and Iz. The thought slid through the painful memories that struggled to surface and Michael immediately reached for the cell phone, he always kept in his jeans pocket, but then he rolled his eyes at himself. Like I had enough money back then to own a cell phone…or now, I guess.  
  
The idea of having succeeded in their time traveling plans threatened to give the half alien a massive headache and he sighed and got up. "Wonder if I can track down a payphone?" he muttered and opened the door to the so called living room.  
  
Hank, thank God, was already passed out in his recliner and Michael used some of his future acquired skills of sneaking by soldiers out to kill him and slipped by his foster parent easily.  
  
Once outside, Michael squinted upwards at the sun and then found a shadowy path to keep himself as unnoticed as possible. Michael smirked at his antics a moment later. If I'm really back to the past, I can afford to lose the Rambo skills just a little bit.   
  
Michael took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadow and let the warm sun illuminate his large body. He only allowed himself a few moments though and then turned back to his search for a phone.  
  
It took him ten minutes to remember where the trailer park had its old pay phones and when he stepped inside the booth, Michael cursed softly when he saw the out of order sign. With a quick glance around he shrugged and placed his hand on the broken machinery. A few seconds later, Michael dialed the Evans' home number.  
  
"Evans residence." Dianne Evans' voice was cheerful and it instantly reminded Michael of Maria and he swallowed a lump of sadness before he cleared his throat and tried to remember how he'd acted as a teenager.  
  
"It's Michael. I need to talk to Max or Isabel; it's important."  
  
Dianne didn't respond to him, she simply let go of the phone and screamed for her children.  
  
Michael smiled fondly. A few seconds later, the smile vanished when Max's deep voice asked, "What did you and I do the last day in Vegas?"  
  
Good ol' cautious Maxwell, Michael's smile turned fond again, but he quickly replied to reassure his leader, his family, "We watched Braveheart – still the greatest movie ever made."  
  
Max's sigh was loud and Michael heard him mutter to Isabel that it really was him before he asked if Michael was all right.  
  
"I'm fine – woke up in my old trailer, that was neat."  
  
Max again muttered something to his sister and a second later, Michael listened as she tore the receiver from Max's hands and said, "Has Hank tried anything? 'Cause I'll come over there and kick his deadbeat little behind."  
  
Michael felt a rare twitch of his lips forming into a half smile. "No need Iz, I'm fine."  
  
Isabel was like the rest of them, changed by the events of the last few years. Admittedly her change had started when Alex had been killed, but having to leave her husband and then watch her best friend die to protect her was just too much for the beauty and she'd grown ice cold and deadlier than ever. Now for the first time in years, she sounded human and Michael could admit that he really liked the sound of that.  
  
"Put Max back on."  
  
When he heard the sounds of Max being handed back the phone, Michael asked, "So what happens now Max?"  
  
Max was silent for a few moments on his end and Michael frowned; His friend and King never hesitated – hesitation got people killed. "What's up?"  
  
"I think we should figure out just exactly when we are and then take it from there."  
  
Michael nodded. "Sounds cool. So will you come and pick me up? I can't exactly hotwire a car out here without anyone finding out."  
  
Max agreed and Michael ended the call and walked out to the main road to wait. It's gonna be odd seeing them like teenagers again. All of them.  
  
Max's POV  
  
Max stepped out of the house and froze momentarily at the sight before him. My old jeep – we really are back, aren't we?   
  
"Max, what's wrong?"  
  
Isabel's voice was tense and Max shook himself out of his weird mood and shrugged as he made his way over to the vehicle he'd once ruined completely in an effort to hide some of his numerous secrets.  
  
"Nothing, I'm just a bit freaked out, I guess." This time around, I'll be honest to my family. No matter what. The unspoken oath rang through his body and Max felt a bit better as he slid into the jeep and started the engine.  
  
The royal siblings drove in silence towards the trailer park where Michael had lived before Hank's death. Max could feel the pull of Liz's presence growing stronger in his body every minute that went by and he still hadn't checked up on her. He fidgeted uncomfortably and shifted gears to try and hide it.  
  
Isabel of course wasn't fooled and placed her hand on top of his on the gearshift. "Max, I'm dying to see them all too. We'll go right after we've picked Michael up, okay?"  
  
Max nodded and sped up the car in his eagerness. Then something hit him and he glanced over at his sister with a small frown on his face. "There's one thing we haven't really thought through."  
  
Isabel raised her eyebrows and Max elaborated with a sigh. "The whole bond between us and them were in part due to all the dangers we faced off together. This time around I'm not really gonna let all of that happen to her…I mean us."  
  
The memory of Liz's blood from her gunshot wound so long ago propelled through Max and he quickly continued talking before the newest memory of Liz managed to fight its way through. Remembering a dead Liz wasn't something he could handle yet, even though she technically wasn't dead in this time.  
  
"And what about Michael and Maria? They've been through so much together. At this point in time Maria is afraid of Michael's bad reputation and Michael supposedly hates her guts…Well, anyone's guts really. And you have Alex to worry about too."  
  
Isabel smiled. "Don't worry Max. Alex was in love with me before any of this even started. At least that's what he used to tell me before Tess…" Iz's eyes darkened at the memory of Alex's murderer before she continued with a faked brightness. "And Liz and you are meant to be. As for Michael and Maria – well, something tells me that after he buried Maria back in our time, he is totally fine with being nice to her now."  
  
Max laughed a forced laugh after his sister mentioned the burial. He fought down the picture of Michael and his own bloodied hands as they dug a grave for their wives without using their powers.  
  
"There he is." Isabel pointed a well manicured hand forward and Max couldn't help but let a rare smile grace his features at the sight that met him.  
  
Michael looked exactly as he used to at the height of his bad ass period. His hair was slicked upwards in several spikes and Max could barely recognize the youth in the other male's face. "This is a really weird experience," he muttered and heard Isabel's chuckled agreement.  
  
A moment later, the jeep pulled up next to Michael and Max nodded silently. Isabel, who seemed more and more at ease in her younger body, greeted his second in command with a smirk. "Love the hairdo."  
  
"Shut up," was Michael's response while he slid back in the jeep. "I'm going back to my regular style tomorrow."  
  
Max pulled out on the road again and turned the vehicle around. The urge to see Liz kept growing with each passing minute.  
  
"Are we going to Crashdown?"  
  
Max nodded. "I have to see her alive. I can't explain it, I don't care that she barely knows me yet, but I have to make sure she's alive and well. Oh crap," the curse left his lips before he could censor it.  
  
Isabel and Michael, who were still very used to unexpected surprises tensed up immediately and looked around to check for attackers, although rationally they both knew it wasn't likely to happen. "What?"  
  
"I still don't know what date it is."  
  
Michael frowned and leaned forward – at once much more relaxed. "Why's that so important Maxwell?"  
  
Max let Isabel answer as he changed the station on the radio – suddenly anxious to find out.  
  
"Because we have to know if Liz is gonna get shot soon."  
  
Michael quickly understood and didn't say another word as the trio raced towards the Diner.  
  
Ten minutes later, they drove in to the parking lot that belonged to the Crashdown and for a moment Max was afraid to go any further. What if something has gone wrong? What if she won't love me in this time? It doesn't matter; he answered his scared thoughts in the next second, as long as she's still alive, I can handle anything. As long as they're all alive and well.   
  
He took a deep breath and finally exited the car. Michael and Isabel followed suit. After a quick look at their pale faces, Max realized that they were just as anxious and eager as he was. Especially Michael seemed almost desperate and Max reminded himself that Michael had lost a wife too in their dark future.  
  
The other two reached the door before him and entered. Max hesitated momentarily in the doorway to give his eyes time to adjust to the different lighting.  
  
The smell of fried food, sweat and soda rummaged in the air and Max swallowed a lump of fierce sadness at the rush of memories. We've had some good times in here…  
  
"Max, over here!" Isabel's voice reached his numbed state of mind and Max shook himself out of the memories and quickly walked over to the booth where his sister and best friend sat.  
  
Just as he was sitting down, Max noticed an older man folding his newspaper to leave and he hurried over to him and asked politely, "Sir, would it be okay if I borrowed your paper for just a second?"  
  
The old man looked up at Max, who in return tried to look as unassuming and charming as possible. "Here you go young man, keep it." The man handed over the paper and exited the diner with a friendly nod to Max, who barely noticed in his hurry to check the damned paper for the date. September 18th.  
  
"Dammit!"  
  
The other customers looked up from their plates and Max quickly slid back into the seat next to Isabel, who looked at him with worried eyes. "So?"  
  
Max scanned the diner with determined eyes and they landed on two quietly arguing men. That's them – that's the men who shot Liz.   
  
"Max!" Michael's frantic voice reminded him that he still hadn't answered the question.  
  
"It's September 18th. It's the day Liz was shot…"  
  
The gasps from his fellow aliens were absorbed by the two men's arguing in quiet whispers. Max eyed them warily until Michael's second gasp alerted him to something else.  
  
Two women, two young girls in fact, had just come out from the backdoor next to the kitchen. One was blond and she had a short wanna be Meg Ryan style to it and she looked teasingly down at the slightly shorter brown-haired girl next to her.  
  
Max's breath caught in his throat as his eyes swallowed Liz Parker. His wife, his lover, his soul mate. Who doesn't know me at all yet… The thought brought some of his senses back to him and Max looked away.  
  
His eyes landed on Michael, who was looking at Maria Deluca with the eyes of a starving man. Max discreetly kicked his best friend's shin.  
  
"Aw, what the hell Dude?" Michael's angry eyes turned to him and Max smiled briefly.  
  
"You two are supposed to loathe each other right now. If you keep looking at her like she's the best thing in the world, she's probably gonna hit you with a dose of pepper spray."  
  
Isabel nodded in agreement and smirked. "It's true Mikey. Keep your tongue in your mouth until she learns to like you again."  
  
Michael looked surprisingly stern at her and Max grinned when Michael said darkly, "I'm gonna remind you of this moment when you see Alex for the first time."  
  
Isabel laughed and Max couldn't help but do the same. For the first time in a very long time, he felt alive again.  
  
And then things got even better when Liz walked over to their table to serve them. She was carrying a plate of cherry cola's and Max repressed the urge to help her with her load when she juggled with the glasses as she placed them in front of each of them.  
  
"Hi guys – I'm sorry I didn't wait for your drink order today, but you usually order this and we're really busy today so…" Liz's wonderful brown eyes looked nervously at Michael as she said this.  
  
Max smiled widely. He could see her surprise at Michael's greeting smile. He must really look different than she's used to at this time. Maybe I should ask Isabel to help her out and see how she reacts to that?   
  
"That's fine." Iz answered and continued with a secret smiled to Max. "We'll just have some pie when you're ready. No rush, we can wait."  
  
Or I could just watch her do that and get the same reaction, Max thought with an even bigger smile as Liz's surprise turned to full on shock at their unusual friendliness. He remembered vaguely that before the shooting, he'd been the only one remotely polite to her and Maria by association. Judging by the looks of it, that's another thing that's gonna change this time around…  
  
"Uhm, sure…I'll be right back." Liz muttered and hurried away. Max watched her with eyes that swam with pure adoration and longing.  
  
"This is the best idea we've ever had," Michael whispered while his own eyes kept tracking Maria, who was weaving in and out between different customers with practiced ease.  
  
A few minutes later, Liz returned with three slices of pie and walked away with a friendly smile to another customer.  
  
And then the moment arrived. The arguing men at the other side of the room started arguing louder and louder just after Maria had offered them another cup of coffee. Max felt Michael tense up when one of the men stood up with a gun in his hand and they began to struggle until the gun went off.  
  
In the next second, Michael was across the room and had pulled Maria out of the danger. Isabel used her natural authority to keep people calm and Max was already by Liz's side – healing her just as he'd done the first time. He hated himself for not reacting sooner. This shouldn't have happened, oh baby I'm so sorry.  
  
When her eyes blinked slowly up at him with growing confusion, Max decided to go with the inevitable and use his former excuse. He reached for a ketchup bottle, broke it and poured it on her bloody belly. "You broke the bottle and you fell. Please trust me…"  
  
Isabel grabbed his shoulder and pulled him with her. Michael followed after shooting a last look at an equally confused Maria.  
  
They hurried over to the parked jeep. "Wow," Isabel's voice was a tad sarcastic. "We really changed things in there, didn't we?"  
  
Michael sighed and ran a hair through his spiky hair and didn't say anything. Max shrugged and drove away with squealing tires. "At least we can try to get a better relationship with Valenti this time around now. Stop him from sending in the uniform and stuff like that."  
  
Michael and Isabel nodded and Max turned the car around towards the Evans' house. I just hope he doesn't think we're raving lunatics instead…   
  
TBC...


	2. Michael, Max and Liz

CHAPTER TWO  
  
Michael's POV  
  
The trio of time traveling alien hybrids was sitting in Max's bedroom silently. As soon as they'd reached the Evans house they'd rushed inside, mumbling a brief hello to Diane, before all but running up the stairs to talk about their situation with their loved ones  
  
Except they weren't really doing much talking, it was more like sitting in a tomb in Michael's opinion.  
  
Michael had spent the last thirty minutes switching moods faster than he'd ever done when he'd been an actual moody teenager. He dove between being elated that he'd actually laid eyes on his wife for the first time in what felt like forever, let alone touched her skin, and then back to being extremely worried that Liz's shooting hadn't been prevented, thus leaving the door open for the likes of Topolsky.  
  
And I'm not exactly jonesing for my having to kill Agent Pierce again, no matter how much that asshole deserved it, Michael thought with an inwardly grimace, remembering Max's trembling form the night they'd all rescued him from the White Room with Nasedo.  
  
He glanced around the familiar room, stopping momentarily at the closet where he knew that Max at this point in time was still keeping an extra sleeping bag for whenever Hank got too much to drink.  
  
Although time and trials had taught Michael patience, he finally couldn't take it anymore and he abruptly stood up from his seat, saying bluntly. "So, now that the brooding is out of the way, what's the plan Maxwell?"  
  
Isabel suddenly sent him a scorching glare, which confused the hell out of Michael.  
  
"What? What did I say?"  
  
For one moment Max looked equally confused, but before he got a chance to answer Michael's first question, Isabel stated with a dignified huff, neither of the two men had seen in years. "I just think we should remember this time around that Max might be King of an Alien breed, but he's human too. And right now he's a human teenager, so let's not pressure him like we've done in the past."  
  
Recognizing the look of steel that Isabel normally only ever wore during battle, or during Christmastime, Michael nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Max probably doesn't want to carry everything alone this time around."  
  
Suddenly Max's deep voice cut through the other two's conversation. "Max is sitting right here, listening to every word. Iz," his brown eyes, so like his sister's, almost glared in her direction, "I've been doing this for a long time and I'd appreciate if you'd stop treating me like I'm made of glass. Michael, to answer your question; I think we should use our knowledge to prevent Valenti from sending Liz's uniform to the F.B.I. I want to prevent having Topolsky around and God forbid, Pierce and possibly Nasedo and Tess."  
  
Speaking the name of the fourth member of their alien group made the other two hybrids cringe, but Max uttered the name solemnly and without any apparent hate.  
  
Which is such a prime example of Max's maturity, Michael realized, sitting back down on the desk chair. I know for a fact that he hates her guts, but he's willing to look beyond that now and try to come up with a plan. I don't care what Isabel thinks, I'm thrilled he's my King.   
  
Over the years Michael's friendship with Max had evolved. Instead of arguing and questioning every one of Max's usually pretty decent ideas or orders, he'd fallen into place behind the brown haired man, contented enough with his status as Max's second in command.  
  
Of course that didn't mean he wouldn't point out the obvious. "Tess? Shooting aside, don't you think we need a battle plan for her and Nasedo?"  
  
Max's eyes darkened, making Michael instantly regret his bluntness but before he could change the subject again, Max relaxed. "I know that Tess and Nasedo aren't our most favorite persons on the planet. I also know that despite everything we might end up needing their help in the future."  
  
"Hell no!"  
  
Isabel rose from the bed with a scowl on her face. "I don't care about how much help they might be able to give us, she killed Alex and I won't ever forget that."  
  
Michael found himself agreeing with the blonde, but uncharacteristically chose to remain silent and observe the siblings talk it out.  
  
Max remained seated at the bed, watching intently up at his sister. "I understand that Isabel and-"  
  
"No! You obviously don't!" Isabel cut through Max's placating sentence, crossing her arms angrily.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Michael noticed that a few of the fixtures on Max's computer desk were trembling and knew it was due to Isabel lack of emotional control. Fortunately she too noticed and took a deep breath, forcing the movements to stop.  
  
Her anger however, didn't diminish and she continued coldly a moment later. "I won't tolerate Nasedo in our midst again. He made a deal with Khivar, remember! And Tess's presence is totally unacceptable, don't you care what she did? Or is it all about protecting your little human!"  
  
The temperature in the bedroom instantly decreased and Michael could feel his muscles tense up as though he was about to be attacked. He looked over at Isabel, who'd slapped her hand over her mouth the moment the words had left her, looking shameful and frightened all at the same time.  
  
Max was sitting immobile staring blindly up at her. Michael swallowed nervously as a choking power rose steadily in the room.  
  
The power that Max wielded so effortlessly was another reason that Michael knew he'd never be able to take over his King's duties. Without a doubt Max was truly the strongest one of them all – Nasedo included.  
  
"Max…I…" Isabel managed to struggle out the words, but Max didn't seemingly react and as the pressure rose to an almost unbearable height, Michael slowly stood back up.  
  
"Iz, walk slowly outside while he gets everything back under control."  
  
Isabel nodded minutely and edged her way past the bed and out the door.  
  
The pressure in the room was nothing short of strangling now and Michael used the only technique that he knew from previous experiences would work. He walked over to his frozen friend and unceremoniously punched his arm.  
  
Max fell a bit back on the bed, and blinked out of his frozen state of mind. When he looked around, his eyes going impossibly wide when he realized Isabel was no longer present, Michael hurried to explain. "She just stepped out of the room Man, don't worry, she's not incinerated or anything like that."  
  
The look of self-loathing on Max's face told Michael that he hadn't forgotten the last time his temper had caused him to lose control. I have to pull him back to the present.   
  
"So now that the drama is over, I need an answer to my question. What do we do now?"  
  
"I'm gonna go talk to Iz," Max muttered and got up. "Let's talk about Nasedo and Tess tonight. I'll tell the parents that you're spending the night, okay?"  
  
Michael nodded silently, watching as Max walked out in search of his sister. "Well, that just leaves me with the perfect opportunity to see if Maria is okay," Michael said to himself and he quickly bent down and scribbled a note before exiting the room through Max's bedroom window, following the growing pull to his wife.  
  
Max's POV   
  
The guilt roared like a wounded beast in his chest and for once nothing but his sister was on Max's mind. He walked quickly towards her bedroom, stopping in the open doorway to watch Isabel pace back on forth by her window looking more like her future troubled self than he really liked to see.  
  
"Iz," Max began quietly, but he never finished his apology because a second later, all six feet of Isabel was in his arms.  
  
"I'm so sorry Max, I didn't mean it. I'm just so freaked out about being back all of the sudden, and I haven't seen Alex alive yet, and I'm just so afraid that everything is gonna fall to pieces if Nasedo comes back. But you're right; we might need them in the future."  
  
Sighing, Max gently removed his frantic sister from his arms and looked her seriously in the eyes. "I'm sorry too, Isabel. I didn't know my control was still so bad . And considering we all agreed to share the burden of our knowledge this time around, I'm the one who should be apologizing for immediately jumping back into the leadership role. Let's just talk about it tonight. Michael's staying, so we should be able to get a few more details cleared up."  
  
Isabel smiled with a nod. The smile turned into a chuckle and she answered his unasked question. "It's just that, I can't remember when you've actually spoken so much before."  
  
Max shook his head, leading the way back into his room a moment later only to find it empty. Why am I not surprised?   
  
"Where's Michael?" Isabel's voice had a twist of fear in it, like the few minutes they'd left the third hybrid alone was enough for him to get into trouble.  
  
Which, Max thought realistically, isn't completely out of line considering his track record.   
  
Before Isabel could go into a full scale panic attack, Mac spotted the hastily scribbled note on the bed and picked it up. "Say's he's gone over to Maria's to make sure she's not freaked out about the day she's had."  
  
Just like that Isabel's worry turned to reluctant understanding. "I should have known. He was so calm, probably just waiting for me to freak out long enough for him to sneak out and stalk his wife. Who, by the way, is terrified of him in this time."  
  
Max actually gave one of his rare grins at those words, nodding in agreement. Now that the tension from earlier was broken and they'd set a time and place for further debate, he was beginning to feel the pull towards his own wife. I can't go to her today, if I remember correctly from what she once told me, she's gonna go out with Kyle tonight or tomorrow and then he'll discover the handprint, which will of course lead to Valenti finding out, piqueing his interest in me and that will start the whole thing off again. I can't jeopardize that now that she's been shot. At least this way I'll know what will happen.   
  
"Max!"  
  
Max snapped back to the present, meeting his sister's frustrated gaze. "I'm sorry Iz, I'm just worried about Liz and how things are going to play out after the shooting."  
  
Isabel's irritation seemed to diminish a bit and she reached out and grabbed his chin gently. "I know you are Max, but you have to focus on the fact that we're all invested in this. Michael's got Maria to worry about, I've got Alex and then there's the whole Nasedo and Skin thing. Don't even get me started on the other set of us running amuck in New York City right now."  
  
Max sighed, bridging his nose before nodding resolutely. "I know and I'm sorry. I'll go get Michael and we'll figure out how to steer off Valenti before he goes all alien hunter on us."  
  
Isabel nodded, her mood seemed better the moment Max provided a plan of action, and he swallowed down a mix between amusement and mild annoyance. They say that I don't have to be King anymore, but they're still acting as though I'm their leader. If only Liz was with us, she never saw me as anything other than her lover.  
  
Max blinked, forcing himself to remember that his wife wasn't dead yet. In the deep corners of his mind, Max had to admit that he feared for the new future he and his siblings had embarked upon in their desperate attempt to right past wrongs. I might not get my wife Liz back, he finally settled on as he turned to go pick up Michael. But I still have a shot at getting my girlfriend Liz back and that's why I did this whole thing in the first place…  
  
To Max's embarrassment, he had to go look up Maria's address in a phone book he found at a local payphone. He justified it by reminding himself that it had been quite some time since he'd spoken to Maria about her Roswellian life, and that he'd never actually been one to hang around her place all that much.  
  
Finally having succeeded with his mission, Max pulled up next to the tiny two bedroom apartment that housed Maria Deluca and her frenzied mother, Amy.  
  
Max smiled briefly when he spotted the shadow that was undeniable Michael's next to what could only be Maria's bedroom window. He watched in silence for a few more minutes before exiting his car and walking over to his second in command.  
  
Michael had obviously felt his arrival, judging from the sudden tension in his shoulders that was visible to Max, but he didn't speak until Max was right next to him, looking in at the window where Maria was pacing the floor with a tiny bottle in her hands, seemingly conflicted about something.  
  
"I knocked earlier," Michael explained quietly, with a hint of defensiveness in his tone as though Max would berate him for his need to talk to his wife. "She froze in the doorway, scared out of her mind about my presence. I mumbled something about making sure the shooting hadn't freaked her out, but that seemed to freak her out even more." Michael chuckled and ran a hand through his messy hair. "I swear I saw her making the sign to ward off evil behind her back before I left. And now she's taken out the calming drops..."  
  
Max chuckled in sympathy, "I'm not going to say anything about the cleverness in that idea, because I'd have done the same thing."  
  
Michael glanced over at him with a small smile. "Really?"  
  
Max nodded and crossed his muscular arms. "Yes, in fact I'm planning on going over to the Parkers, to make sure that she's all right as soon as you're ready." As soon as he spoke the words, Max knew he'd been planning to go to Liz's place despite his own plans and he suppressed an eye roll.  
  
Michael sighed and straightened up, the reluctance to leave Maria's side was clear to see. "I'll just wait here then."  
  
Max shook his head and took a gentle hold of Michael's shirt. "No way Man, I'm going to need you to keep me sane when we get there. I don't want her to have a Maria reaction over my presence."  
  
Rolling his eyes, Michael finally allowed Max to drag him over to the car and they quickly took off towards Liz Parker's home.  
  
It didn't take them long to get there and Max parked just below the terrace that he knew to be Liz's. He couldn't see her outside, but the feeling in his stomach informed him that Liz was inside in her bedroom.  
  
The ability to feel his wife's presence inside him had come not long after their escape from Roswell in the original timeline. After Liz's death it had felt like a part of his soul had been ripped out of him and Max wasn't used to feeling her so intently anymore. It's even weirder now, because right now she's not even my wife. We haven't even kissed each other yet. Max thought, gripping the steering wheel a bit harder than necessary as there was a pull inside him that demanded that he go to Liz and sooth the confusing emotions she had running through her.  
  
I can't go to her now, Max tried to calm his desires. She won't understand, she's too rational right now, too hung up on things being logical. Maybe she won't even feel the same way about me because my being here will change the course of the future! No, that can't be true, not when I can already feel her so easily. I just have to be in control, come on Max you've survived without her before, you can do it again; it's only temporary!  
  
"MAX!"  
  
Max snapped his head to the side, meeting Michael's widened ones with a growl on his lips that brought him back to reality. He shook his head, trying to clear it of all the thoughts and theories. "I'm sorry; I guess I just got a bit caught up for a second there."  
  
Michael smirked and patted his shoulder once. "Yeah, I understand. I'd knocked on Maria's door before I even realized I was doing it. I can't believe the pull is still there or there at all seeing as we're not even paired up yet."  
  
Max gave a sigh of relief, suddenly remembering with a sheepish smile, that he wasn't the only one who'd shared the bond with a human. Michael and Maria had always shared a very hot and cold relationship in their teen years, but when they'd all left Roswell after graduation, something had changed for the couple and they turned out to be the most stabile couple second only to Max and Liz. Their bond was strong and when Maria had died, Michael had broken down completely from the sudden loss of it.  
  
"I think our bond must transcend time and space," Max finally muttered, glancing one last time up at the terrace, before starting the jeep and driving back to the Evans' house and a no doubt anxious Isabel. "I don't really know how it can be like that and I don't think it's worth worrying over. We really need to think about some strategies, because with our luck Valenti is already suspicious and tomorrow I'm not only going to have a curious Liz Parker on my hands, but I'll have to face high school again."  
  
Michael groaned at the high school part and both men shared a grin as they hurried back to their fellow hybrid. Neither of them mentioned the fact that the pull towards their loved ones were getting more uncomfortable the father away they got from them.  
  
Liz's POV  
  
Elizabeth "Liz" Parker walked into her room and quietly closed the door for privacy. Then and only then did she sigh loudly and collapse on her bed.  
  
"This has got to be the weirdest thing ever to happen to me," she muttered and ran a hand over her taut belly. When her finger grazed the bullet hole, Liz froze. There was an odd sensation just under the ruined fabric and she got back up on her feet and walked over to her full length mirror by the wall.  
  
She took in the tired look in her eyes before focusing on her task at hand. She reached down and unbuttoned her dirty uniform, pulling it to the side to reveal her upper body clad only in a bra.  
  
Liz gasped when she spotted an unfamiliar sight, just where she'd been shot. A glowing, silver handprint was etched into her skin.  
  
Liz shook her head, trying to test out whether or not she was dreaming. "This can't be happening – this can't be happening." She felt the sting of tears in her eyes and before she knew it, she'd ripped off the bloodied uniform and thrown it on her bed. A moment later it was stuffed inside her book bag, hidden away under her bed for the time being.  
  
Suddenly there was an unfamiliar feeling in her chest, almost a subtle burning, and without knowing why, Liz had an urge, no, a need to go outside on her terrace through her window. The odd, but somehow comforting emotion inside her, distracted Liz from her panic attack and she grabbed her robe, pulling it on and ran over to the window. A moment later, she stood out on her secluded balcony, but there was nobody there.  
  
Liz sighed and pulled the robe tighter around her body, shivering a bit in the night air. The feeling in her chest was growing a bit more uncomfortable, almost as though something was pulling at her from the inside. She rubbed the spot absentmindedly, trying to absorb everything that had happened that day.   
  
"There's got to be a rational explanation for all of this." She said out loud, thinking of the handprint and the confusing need inside of her. When she got no immediate answer, Liz slowly turned to head back into her bedroom to try and catch some much needed rest.  
  
The last thing Liz thought about before giving into sleep was the look of frantic desperation on Max Evans' face as he had bent over her. I have to talk to him in school tomorrow and I'm sure he's got a reasonable explanation for everything…   
  
TBC...  
  



	3. Isabel, Alex, Max and Liz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Chapter gives away which character's pov - so consider that a summary ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N I've used one line from the Pilot in Liz's section at the end that doesn't belong to me. I've had people ask me about pairings etc. This is strictly Canon. I will not switch or anything like that. Isabel is paired with Alex in this story, but Jesse Will show up later and play a significant role for our Gazers.  
> This story isn't fast paced, I'm very interested in setting the stage so to speak and I have no intention of rushing this adventure:) That said, I'm very eager to hear your thoughts:)  
> \-------------

  
CHAPTER THREE  
  
Isabel's POV  
  
The next morning Isabel was awake before her alarm went off. In fact she'd been awake for several hours, just waiting for the darn thing to allow her to get up and start getting ready for her first day back in high school.  
  
The moment the blaring sound of the alarm echoed through her room, Isabel was halfway through her room and she quickly grabbed a towel and ran past an equally eager looking Max to get to the shower first.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Isabel stepped out of the shower and dried off her hair. Too impatient to go through the hour long routine she'd firmly established as a teenage girl, Isabel simply used her powers to make the water disintegrate, before waving her hand before her face, applying her own unique brand of makeup.  
  
"Iz, aren't you done yet?" Max's voice echoed through the door and with one final glance in the mirror, Isabel wrapped her towel around her and opened the door.  
  
"All yours Max, I'll go get dressed. Don't take too long, please."  
  
Max nodded and closed the door behind him quietly. Isabel ran into her room and immediately jumped over to her closet, suddenly anxious about what to wear.  
  
And the fact that clothes is horribly out of style for my current taste isn't helping any, Isabel thought with a grimace, watching the bright colors she'd been in love with in 1999.  
  
Suddenly her eyes fell on an almost forgotten piece of clothing, a tight, bright red top. In the next second Isabel had to fight back a sudden urge to weep like a baby, when she recognized the top as the one she'd worn while trying to seduce Alex into not revealing his alien knowledge.  
  
"He always did like me in red," Isabel muttered softly, fingering the fabric almost reverently as the memories of that time overpowered her.  
  
Eventually, Isabel finished getting ready for the day and walked down to the kitchen, where her mother and Max were eating breakfast. Or Diane was at least, Isabel noticed with an understanding smile as Max was simply stabbing his eggs absentmindedly while looking out the window.  
  
Grabbing a piece of dry toast and kissing Diane on the cheek, Isabel headed for the door. "I'm ready to go when you are, Max."  
  
With another smile Isabel watched her brother, the King of an alien race they'd fought with against Khivar's forces, act like an eager child. Well, King of a race that at least wasn't already brainwashed or dead, Isabel amended, her appetite lost as the memories of various battles flew through her mind.  
  
Suddenly something else entirely entered her mind and Isabel turned to Max as he started the jeep. "Wait, where's Michael? When I left after our meeting, you guys were getting ready for bed."  
  
Max smiled with a sudden sad glint in his brown eyes as he backed out of the driveway. "He woke up early and decided to head back to Hank's to grab some of his things."  
  
Isabel nodded. Waking early had become the trio's code for something else entirely; woke up with a scream.  
  
"So," Max's voice brought Isabel back from the dark mood she was entering and she looked over at her brother, "are you excited to see Alex?"  
  
Isabel's mood turned changed back to its happy level from earlier and she smiled widely. "Yeah, I was awake for hours last night; just thinking about how lucky we are to be back here. I just hope that he'll want to be with me."  
  
Max smiled and shifted gears while he stated calmly, "Iz, if there's one thing I'm sure of in this new world we're in; it's the fact that Alex Whitman is really not going to have a problem being with you."  
  
Calmed by Max's words, Isabel leaned back in her car seat and watched the familiar scenery fly by. A nagging thought kept trying to bring her down and finally she turned back to Max, who raised an eyebrow inquiringly at her sudden serious expression.  
  
"Max, I just can't help think about the fact that we're not teenagers in spirit anymore. Take away the whole miracle of us actually being back here and think about it. They're barely sixteen years old and when we left our own time we were in our late twenties. That's a huge age gap and I…"  
  
Max drove into the high school's parking lot, automatically parking in the spot Isabel recognized as their old one, before he turned sideways and looked her intently in the eyes. "I know what you mean, Iz. After you went to bed yesterday, Michael and I actually touched the subject, but you know what we decided in the end?"  
  
Isabel shook her head, with her bottom lip between her teeth.  
  
"It doesn't matter and as Michael said in his own unique way; let's just be happy we're not dealing with all this crap in our childhood bodies."  
  
Laughing, Isabel leaned forward and embraced Max, who smiled a lot wider than he usually did. "Thanks Max. Come on; let's take on high school again."  
  
They exited the car and started making their way inside the building. Isabel barely managed to set foot inside the hall, before she was literally torn away from her brother's side and looking into the faces of her old clique, whom she hadn't thought about in years; Michelle and Cindy.  
  
"Oh my God, Isabel; Tommy Jenkins totally asked me about you earlier; he's so into you that it's not even funny!" Michelle squealed and grabbed Isabel's arm, while starting to jump up and down in her excitement.  
  
Cindy followed suit, and Isabel looked over her shoulder at her brother, feeling the plea in her eyes. He too looked taken aback by the greeting that she'd been given, and didn't move for a long second. Eventually he snapped out of it and stepped in-between Isabel and her "friends", unconsciously taking on a much more dominate aura than he was known for at that point in time.  
  
In a response to his silent dominance, Michelle and Cindy immediately backed away without even realizing it. "Ladies," Max said, taking a gentle hold on Isabel's arm himself, "I need to borrow Isabel for a while."  
  
Michelle eyed Max with far more appreciation than Isabel had ever seen in her eyes before as she hurried to comply with his request, letting go of Isabel.  
  
The siblings quickly made their way over to a more discreet corner. "Thanks," Isabel said as they tried to act as normal as possible. Inwardly she was nothing short of embarrassed about herself. I used to be called the Ice Princess and now I can't even discard two teenage girls? What is going on with me?  
  
"Iz?"  
  
Max's voice brought the troubled hybrid back to the present and she looked over at her brother with a frown marring her beautiful features. "I don't think I can do this," she blurted out a second later.  
  
Max crossed his muscular arms and for the first time that morning, Isabel noticed that Max had dressed outside of the teenage comfort zone he'd never wavered from in their past. No sweater was hiding the fact that he was in good shape for his age. He was wearing a tight, black T-shirt that really showed off his physique. Maybe it just wasn't his aura that turned Michelle on? Isabel pondered, suppressing a shudder of disgust.  
  
"You can do this, Iz," Max said and with a jerk of her body, Isabel was brought back to reality for the second time in just as many minutes. "You're not shallow Isabel Evans anymore. You won't have any problems."  
  
For a second, Max's brown eyes darkened even further and he added almost inaudibly, "at least you don't have to worry about a time transcending bond."  
  
But maybe I'll make my own bond just by staying with Alex, keeping him alive, Isabel thought, taking a deep breath as a sudden flow of hope grew inside of her.  
  
"Hey, look."  
  
Isabel followed her brother's widened gaze and just for one short moment, everything was right in her world again. Walking towards her were Alex Whitman, he was looking down at a frantic looking Maria, seemingly not noticing that the Evans kids were staring holes through his skull.  
  
"Alex," Isabel breathed out the name, all of a sudden nothing else mattered to her but the tall, gangly boy in front of her.  
  
Before she really understood her own intentions, Isabel was on the move.  
  
Alex's POV  
  
"I'm telling you; something fishy is going on, Alex! I can't get in touch with Liz, we always walk to homeroom together and to top it all off; that Guerin kid is stalking me! He's really starting to weird me out! Will you focus here?"  
  
The slap on the back of his head, barely registered in Alex's mind, he was busy trying to act as though he hadn't noticed that they were about to walk past the living Goddess that was Isabel Evans.  
  
"Sure, Maria, but come on," he eventually turned to look down at his small, female friend, fulfilling his duties as her friend. "You've always seen drama where there just isn't any. Remember last week at Chuck E Cheese? I kept telling you that that kid wasn't about to explode, he was just heavy and I'm pretty sure his supposed growling was him having an astma attack or something."  
  
"Then how do you explain that Guerin freak showing up at my house? I swear he was giving me the evil eye or something."  
  
Alex rolled his eyes and expertly avoided a second head slap with a small grin. If there's one thing I can always count on; it's Maria's drama gene going into overdrive, he thought amusedly.  
  
"H-Hi Alex."  
  
The soft spoken words reached Alex's distracted mind and he instantly recognized the speaker, snapping his head back to the front to stare completely gobsmacked into the dark brown eyes of Isabel.  
  
"Hey, Isabel." He managed to say, inwardly congratulating himself for not stuttering. "Was I in your way? I can move." Of course the moment the words left his mouth, Alex knew that to be the truth. There was no way that living deity would ever speak to him voluntarily.  
  
To his surprise, Isabel immediately looked dejected as though his offer hurt her in some way. She glanced sideways down at a staring Maria, before looking back into his eyes. There's something different about her, Alex realized, fighting off a peculiar feeling inside of him. There was a light in her eyes that had never shined in his presence before.  
  
She looks like she genuinely cares about me…but that can't be right? Alex was a smart guy, but this was a puzzle he just couldn't figure out.  
  
"No, Alex. It's nothing like that. I just…" Isabel hesitated, thus adding to the surreal moment Alex was having, "I just wanted to say hi. And now I have, so bye."  
  
In the next second, Isabel was gone and Alex could breathe in again. He tried, but couldn't get his voice to work properly. Next to him, Maria didn't have the same problem.  
  
"See? I told you things are getting weird around here! What was that all about? Maybe she and her popular jock friends have a bet going about humiliating you or something." Maria looked serious for a second, "if that's the case, I promise I'll give them all a big talking too. Liz can probably get Kyle to slip them some diarrhea tablets or something. Are you okay, Alex?"  
  
Alex nodded unconvincingly. The fact that the woman of his dreams had spoken to him out of her own free will, didn't seem so special anymore, the distrust that Maria had spoken off quickly manifested itself into his brain, driving a huge, painful seed of suspicion into it. "Yeah, I'm fine, Maria." He eventually said with a sigh. "I just didn't think that Isabel would use those kinds of tricks. She always seems so…"  
  
"Cold? Evil? Snooty?" Maria certainly didn't lack adjectives, but then again, Alex reasoned internally, she had never really taken to the tall blonde, always spouting something about her being, "evil incarnate," or of that nature.  
  
"Let's just get to class," Alex muttered gloomily and started making his way through the student filled hallway. He felt Maria following him closely, eying him with worried eyes. He didn't care, but he knew that despite all her blustering, Maria truly was one of the most loyal friends a person could have.  
  
When he reached the door to his class, Alex stopped and looked down at Maria, whose eyes still showed her concern for his dilemma. "I'm gonna be fine, Maria. I'll meet you in the quad for lunch," with some effort he managed to procure a decent smile as he added, "and then we can track Liz down and force her to spill everything. Okay?"  
  
Maria nodded and leaned forward to envelope him in a quick hug, before she quickly ran toward her own class.  
  
Alex watched her until she turned the corner and then walked into the room, settling into his usual seat in the back of the class. He was in the middle of digging through his bag for his pencil case when he felt someone sit down in the seat next to him.  
  
Knowing that the seat usually remained empty in this class, Alex looked up to satisfy his curiosity and instantly wished he hadn't. Next to him, staring closely at him was one of the only people in the school that truly unnerved him. Michael Guerin.  
  
There was also something different about the withdrawn boy, Alex noticed as he tried unsuccessfully to look away from the angry teenager's eyes. Then it suddenly hit him and Alex finally managed to look up at the blackboard where the teacher was busy writing quotes from the latest novel they were going through.  
  
He doesn't look angry at all. The truth in that statement was almost as unusual as having Isabel talk to him, possible joke or not. Michael was known for two things. One, he only ever hung out with Isabel and Max Evans. Two, he really didn't have the most amiable social skills.  
  
Frankly, Alex thought as he quickly copied the quotes down on his note pad. Maria is right; he really is acting out of the ordinary. I wonder why he's looking at me. I haven't spoken to him since fifth grade where he told me to be a look out for the teacher while he scratched her car.   
  
"Hey, Alex?"  
  
Alex looked over at Michael, realizing that the other boy still hadn't looked away from him. It really was beginning to creep him out. "What?"  
  
"Got a pen I could borrow?"  
  
The polite request was almost the last straw for Alex, but he reached out his pencil case, letting the other guy pick for himself. While Michael was looking through Alex's pencil case, the human noticed something else that was different about Michael.  
  
His hairstyle wasn't the spiky mess he'd paraded around with for the last few years. Instead it was flat and for once it looked absolutely clean, like Michael had actually cared about his personal hygiene for once. The very idea was jaw dropping to Alex, who had once witnessed the bulkier Michael beat the crap out of a classmate during gym for mocking him about his gelled hairstyle.  
  
"Thanks, man." Michael returned the pencil case and Alex nodded mutely, eager to get back to class and hopefully have a more normal day from then on.  
  
He was so busy trying to put, not only Isabel's, but Michael's out of character behavior towards him out of his mind, that he didn't notice that once he'd turned around, Michael had continued studying him with an uncharacteristic smile on his face.  
  
Max's POV  
  
Max walked into his first period of the day. His eyes automatically scanning the room as he'd been taught after having lived through a war, and he noticed the looks people were giving him without caring. He knew that the moment he'd chosen to put on something formfitting and easy to move in, he was stepping out of his former geeky role.  
  
Max Evans had no intention of blending into the walls as long as there was a possibility for danger towards the people he loved. Not this time around.  
  
As he made his way through the tables, Max noticed Isabel sitting in the front, once again cornered by her former friends. That's one good thing about being me, Max thought with an internal smug smile, at this point in time in my life, I have no friends besides Iz and Michael.   
  
As though she'd heard his thoughts, Isabel turned her head and looked at him with a half-hearted glare. Max took in the sight of her with pleasure. It was obvious that beneath the cool mask that Isabel was known for already in high school, she was very happy.  
  
Max had witnessed her bumbling attempt to chat with Alex, feeling incredibly happy and for once completely sure that their journey had not been in vain. If nothing else, Alex would not die by Tess's hands. Max would see to that.  
  
The thought of the fourth hybrid forced reality back into Max's mind and he took his seat with a sigh. While the teacher was droning on about the Second World War, Max was writing down everything he needed to take care of in his usual meticulous manner.  
  
First off, Max thought, writing down Liz's name, I have to tell my secret so she can ponder about that for a while. I gotta tell her not to bring her uniform to school. Maybe I can make her give it to me, so I can burn it that way Topolsky will never arrive and cause Pierce to know about us. I'm not eager to re-visit the White Room.   
  
The very thought sent chills down Max's spine as his memory took him back to the time he'd been tortured the first time. Although he'd suffered more extensive damages after for example a few days in one of Khivar's lieutenant's hands, Max still felt that the White Room was the hardest one to live through. Realistically he knew that it was due to it being the first time he'd ever been through something like that, and the fact that Pierce had threatened him with a lot more than bodily harm; he'd threatened the people Max loved and that was the scariest thing Max had ever been through; aside from the day Liz had died in his arms in the future.  
  
Suddenly, Max could barely breathe, the horrifying mental image of a bleeding, dying Liz wouldn't let itself be pushed away. He clenched his fists on the table, feeling his nails scrape against his palms painfully. It's not real, I won't let it happen, Max kept repeating desperately silently, swearing that he'd never again see Liz bleed.  
  
"Mr. Evans!"  
  
With a start Max looked up at the teacher. The moment his concentration was broken, Max felt a flash of power rush through him and he heard the window next to him explode in a million pieces. People immediately started screaming, diving out of the way of the impending glass.  
  
The teacher looked dumbstruck, and Max's overloaded mind suddenly couldn't come up with a reason for the incident. Fortunately his sister didn't have the same problem, because just as the surprised screaming was dying down and people were looking curiously at the window, Isabel stood up with a dignified giggle on her lips.  
  
"Whoops."  
  
The teacher spun around, glaring at her and Max wanted nothing more than to jump in and take the blame, seeing as it had been his fault. "Ms. Evans? What did you do?"  
  
Isabel's ice mask fell into place, like Max, she too had changed over the course of the war and the stare she subjected their angry teacher to, was the one some of their enemies had dubbed, "the glare of death". It worked as well on the teacher as on the aliens that he instinctively took a few steps backwards, waiting for Isabel's answer from a safer distance.  
  
Max swallowed a smirk. Although he didn't enjoy the way Isabel's war face looked on her teenage self, he was pleased to note that it still worked perfectly.  
  
"I'm sorry Mr. Pearson. I saw a spider on the window and threw my lucky rock at it. Apparently I hit the glass harder than I intended. I'll pay for the repairs of course. I just really don't like spiders."  
  
Mr. Pearson blubbered something about detention, but fortunately seemed to buy the story and didn't give her one.  
  
Max sent Isabel a grateful look and followed her outside, when Mr. Pearson ended the class early to help the janitor with the clean up.  
  
"What happened in there?" Isabel immediately whispered, as soon as they'd sat down at the table in the quad where they normally spent their lunch.  
  
He didn't get a chance to respond, because they were both distracted by Michael running out into the quad, looking murderous and ready for anything. When the large hybrid realized that there was no immediate danger, he slowed his run to a fast walk, reaching their table within seconds.  
  
"What the hell just happened?" Despite the harsh tone in Michael's voice, Max could easily spot the concern, so he hurried to explain.  
  
"I lost control for a second, but Isabel managed to scare the teacher into not caring."  
  
Michael glanced over at Isabel with an approving glint in his eyes, but then he refocused on Max when Isabel added, "Yeah, well, lucky for all of us, all the attention was on Max because of his sudden meltdown that no one realized that my story was a load of bull."  
  
"Meltdown?" Michael's face paled, obviously remembering the last time, Max's powers had exploded unexpectedly out of him. "What meltdown?"  
  
Max sighed, running a hand through his hair awkwardly. "I just thought about something and it surprised me, that's all. Now, I have to go meditate somewhere before my biology class with Liz."  
  
Isabel and Michael didn't say anything and Max elaborated quietly, "I'm okay again. I won't lose control like that anymore, I promise. I'll see you guys later."  
  
Max literally jumped to his feet in his eagerness to leave his family and their concerned glances behind. He walked around the empty hallways, trying to find an empty classroom, before coming to a stop in front of the door to the eraser room. There's no way, I'll think about bad stuff in there, Max reasoned and slid inside, locking the door and adding his own shield, so it couldn't be opened no matter what.  
  
The moment he sat in the darkened room, happier memories enveloped him and Max sighed in relief, not realizing that he'd been so tense in the first place. The feel of Liz's lips against his was on the forefront of his mind and as he sat down on the floor, Max quickly felt his calm return. Which is good, he thought,taking a deep breath, because I can't afford to lose it again. Especially anywhere near Liz.  
  
Liz's POV  
  
Her heart was hammering as she walked into the biology class. The one class where Max and she always partnered up because they were the only one even remotely interested in the stuff they were doing.  
  
And then she basically deflated in disappointment, when she realized that Max hadn't even bothered to show up yet. I don't get it, Liz frowned at the closed door while her teacher started her lecture, I saw him getting out of his car with Isabel earlier this morning, so I know he's here. Is he avoiding me? Maybe he's planning to do something to me after school? Whatever he did to me wasn't normal, maybe he has to kill me now. Rolling her eyes at herself, Liz rationalized internally, Okay maybe not; if that was the case he wouldn't have saved me like he did.   
The door suddenly slid open and Liz had to force herself not to flinch when Max walked into class. In that moment Liz could feel that odd sensation in her chest expanding, all but visibly reaching out toward the dark haired boy.  
  
Over the renewed pounding of her heart, Liz barely heard the teacher's disapproving, "Mr. Evans, so nice of you to join us." A second later, Liz tried to listen to the teacher, who was continuing with her lecture, while Max was sitting down next to her. …"take a sample from your cheek."  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, Liz felt Max tense up and she quickly looked over at him. To her confusion however, he didn't look tense. Instead he looked oddly happy and as she watched silently, he reached out and put his pencil in his mouth for a second, almost deliberately chewing a bit on it.  
  
The teacher reached their table, handing Liz the slides they were going to need and then Max stood up and started to exit the room again, muttering something a bathroom break.  
  
Liz frowned at the door, completely mystified for a moment, before sighing and starting up her assignment alone. After a few seconds of looking into the microscope at her own cells, Liz spotted Max's abandoned pencil.  
  
She bit her lip in hesitation, looking quickly around the busy room. The yellow piece of wood was glaring at her curiosity, challenging her to confirm her suspicions. A second later, Liz reached out and took the pencil in her hands…  
  
TBC…   
  
  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Hope you liked it. Share your thoughts and expectations with me, please ;) Next time in Antarian Timetravellers: Liz learns the truth, We finally hear a bit from Maria and Valenti makes an appearance.


	4. Liz, Maria, Max and Jim

CHAPTER FOUR

Liz's POV

There has to be some kind of logical explanation for this. Liz thought, not for the first time, as she made her way to the restroom after her class the day after she'd stolen a that cell sample from Max Evans. She was eager to get a moment for herself, the entire class had been spent sitting next to Max, who was glancing at her with a bemused smile and a peculiar look in his eyes every now and again.

She splashed some cold water on her face and watched the droplets fall down her face into the sink. Her reflection told anyone bothering to look that Liz Parker was definitely going through something. Her face was pale and her body trembled slightly as she bent over to grab some paper towels to dry her wet face.

Fortunately for Liz, no one was bothering to look at her, probably just figuring that the A+ student had received an A minus and was having a nervous meltdown like a good little girl.

Liz swallowed a hysterical giggle, she was having a meltdown, just not for the reason other people might think.

With a sigh, she straightened back up and eyed herself in the mirror again. She bit her lip and tried to get over her momentarily lack of calm. Okay, she thought and glanced around the restroom, making sure no one else was present. Max Evans' cell structure isn't like mine. Why is that? Is there a reasonable explanation for this?

Ever since she'd looked into the microscope and found that inhuman green cells, Liz had been possessed, as the night wore on she grew more and more convinced that she'd made the whole thing up somehow. She'd spent the whole evening in bed, ignoring phone calls from Maria and Kyle, whom she was supposed to go on a date with. The only time she'd left her room had been to go down to the diner and grab some fries. As she reached over the counter for something, her shirt had ridden up and she'd hurried to cover up the mysterious handprint that was still lingering on her skin.

The unusual sample mixed with the reminder of the handprint was enough to make her abandon her pitiful attempt at food and she disappeared back upstairs to mull things over.

Ten minutes later, Liz was interrupted in her intense thought process by the door opening to the restroom to reveal three girls she normally wouldn't even look twice at. Today though, things would have to change, Liz told herself firmly, grasping her book bag as though her life depended upon it. The reason for that was the fact that one of the three girls was an extremely bored looking Isabel Evans.

Max's sister.

Maybe I can ask her to let me test her cheek cells, just to make sure that I made a mistake? Liz had to roll her eyes at herself at the thought. Oh yeah, I'll just ask her to let me take a sample from her mouth, because I'm freaking out about her brother, who may or may not even be completely human. That's bound to go over well, Liz added sarcastically, remembering the few other times she'd actually interacted with the blonde female that put the word Ice Queen to a whole new level.

Evidently she'd been staring at Isabel a bit too long, because one of her side kicks, Michelle, trailed off from her narration of her latest date and eyed Liz with nothing but contempt. "Err, excuse us, do you have a problem? It's rude to stare, Diner girl."

Liz sighed, hoisting her book bag on her shoulder. She didn't bother using her superior intellect to point out that Michelle wasn't being very polite either; too occupied with her other drama to care about the old taunts about her job in her family's diner.

Just as Liz started to walk past the glaring girl, Isabel spoke up and gave the word `cold´ a whole new meaning. "Michelle, don't talk to Liz that way."

Liz blinked; she had a feeling that the dumbfounded look on Michelle's face was only surpassed by her own. Isabel had never talked to her, except at the diner occasionally, and even that had been sparse conversations about what to eat and drink, and maybe the weather if Isabel was feeling generous.

"Izzy, are you okay? You've been, like totally weird today and I don't want to catch anything if you're getting sick. I have a date with Matt tonight, remember?"

Isabel raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow and stared the shorter girl down, much to Liz's amusement. Cindy was standing forgotten next to the glowering Isabel, eying her two friends with shock.

"Um," Liz interrupted the showdown and stepped closer to the exit, "it's fine, don't worry about it. I have to go anyway."

A few seconds later, Liz finally managed to escape the other girls. She sighed in relief and was about to start mulling over her Max Evans issues when a long, slender arm wove itself in-between her book bag and her arm and she looked up and meet Isabel's now much warmer eyes.

"I hope you don't mind me getting in the middle in there," Isabel said and gently squeezed Liz's arm. Liz didn't reply, frankly she didn't know how to respond to this new Isabel.

Undeterred, Isabel kept talking. "I've actually wanted to talk to you before this, I'm sorry if I've seemed…sort of cold in the past, that's not me anymore." Liz spotted something dark flash through Isabel's eyes, but didn't get a chance to comment on it before Isabel smiled brightly and looked down at her. "So, what's new with you?"

"I'm just doing what I always do. Work in the diner, spend time with Maria – she's my best friend, who-"

"I know who Maria is," Isabel interjected, once again surprising Liz, especially when she mumbled, "didn't I even act human towards them back then?"

Unable to contain her curiosity, Liz asked quietly "What do you mean?"

Isabel froze, it was suddenly clear to the brunette that she hadn't intended for the last part to be spoken out loud. She's a bit peculiar, isn't she? Liz thought to herself.

The awkward moment was stopped by the one person that Liz really didn't want to deal with at that moment.

Kyle Valenti.

He showed up out of thin air, stopping just inside her personal space. The look in his eyes was the usual mix between genuine affection, teenage lust and a bit of disappointment as well.

The last part threw Liz off and she didn't know how to react. She knew why he had a good reason to be disappointed in her. Before the summer vacation they'd been an item and she hadn't exactly been the most clinging girlfriend as of late. In fact, she admitted inwardly, I don't think I've thought about him since the shooting.

"Hey Liz," Kyle said, obviously tired of waiting for her reaction to his presence. To his credit, his eyes never strayed to the teenage goddess next to her and Liz vowed to at least hear him out. "I've tried to call you a bunch of times. I wanted to know if you were okay. We were supposed to meet yesterday, right?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" the words left her mouth before Liz could control it, ignoring the last of his questions guiltily.

Kyle frowned, rubbing his neck in an exasperated manner. "Well, because of the shooting that happened, of course. My dad's the sheriff, remember? It's not like he'd come home from work and not let his son know that his girlfriend was almost killed."

Liz bit her lip and looked down briefly, before locking her eyes back into Kyle's. "I'm sorry, I guess, I've just been so focused on getting things back to normal that I simply didn't think…So, err, are we good?"

Kyle's eyes warmed, almost excessively so, and Liz bit back a groan of irritation. "Yeah sure. Wanna hang after practice?"

Happy that she had a genuine excuse, Liz informed him that she had to work at the Crashdown. When his eyes quickly dimmed in displeasure at the rejection, Liz remembered Isabel's presence and realized she'd been having a conversation with Kyle and completely ignoring the school's most popular girl. She turned her head to look up and apologize and felt her jaw drop not for the first time that day.

Isabel Evans was staring at Kyle with something raw in her coffee eyes. She looked as though she was dying of thirst and Kyle was that cup of water just one step out of reach. Her eyes were bright and her lips were pressed together in what appeared to be an attempt to not cry.

"Isabel, are you ok-?"

"Hey Isabel."

Liz looked over Kyle's shoulder and spotted Michael Guerin. He was eying Isabel closely; evidently her emotional state wasn't lost on him either. To her surprise his eyes didn't sweep over herself with the usual look of disdain. In fact she could swear that they'd stopped on her a little longer than strictly necessary before sliding back over to Isabel.

Liz didn't turn back to look at the unexpected new friend she'd gained, she was suddenly aware of the fact that in front of Michael stood her best friend and she looked absolutely furious.

And why wouldn't she be? I've ignored her ever since the incident at Crashdown, Liz scolded herself with an internal wince.

"Hey Maria."

"Don't you, `hey´ me," she spluttered and before anyone could react, Maria had started walking toward her. When she reached Liz, she unceremoniously pushed Kyle out of the way, stating that best friend trumped boyfriend anytime and started dragging Liz away to a less crowded area, which turned out to be an unused classroom across the hall.

As she meekly followed Maria, not that the iron grip the blonde had on her arm led her to believe that she had any kind of choice in the matter, Liz looked over her shoulder. Isabel seemed to have regained her senses as she, alongside Michael, was helping Kyle off the floor with a small smile on her full lips.

This day just keep getting weirder and weirder, Liz managed to think before Maria suddenly spun around and stated, "Now I'd like some explanations!"

Maria's POV

A little while earlier:

There was only a few minutes left until the bell rang and Maria was literally bouncing in her seat. On her notepad were nothing but doodles; a clear sign of her participation in the class. Her attentive span in school weren't usually the best, but neither was it this bad.

But for once there was a legitimate reason for her inability to pay attention to her droning teacher; actually there were two very good reasons, one of which were sitting right next to her and was seriously creeping her out.

Isabel Evans.

As if having Guerin wigging me out isn't bad enough, I have to have the Ice Queen staring holes into me whenever she thinks I'm not looking.

Maria swallowed down the rising panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She tried to act as though Isabel's looks weren't literally making her skin itch. What's with people these days? Maria wondered, squirming uncomfortably in her seat when she felt Isabel's stare yet again. First there's Guerin, who suddenly goes all stalker on me, then the Ice Queen is suddenly not only interested in me, but Alex too? If they've got some sort of bet going on to humiliate us, I'll kill them. And I can get Liz to help me out; she's smart enough to make it undetectable…

The thought of Liz, caused Maria to pause briefly in her vengeance plans. She's been avoiding me ever since the shooting. I have to find her and show her that bloodied notepad I took from the floor from the diner, maybe then she'll stop ignoring me and we can focus on whatever is going on with the adopted trio…  
Finally the bell sounded, interrupting her in her scheming, and Maria was halfway out the room, before Isabel even managed to grab her things. Good, Maria exhaled a breath of relief, that's one, who can't follow me. Then I only have to avoid-

"Holy crap," Maria was so deep into her own head that she didn't see the hard body in front of her, and she slammed into it with enough force to send her to her butt. Before she found herself on the cool linoleum floor, a pair of large hands took a gentle hold of her, stopping her fall effortlessly.

Maria didn't bother looking up. As if the size of that body didn't reveal who her victim/helper was; that odd feeling in her chest gave it all away. Ever since the moment in the Crashdown, where the shooting had tilted her world around and Michael unexpectedly showed up, shielding her from harm, Maria had gotten a peculiar feeling in her chest whenever he was nearby.

"Are you okay?" his voice sounded remarkably concerned and despite her reluctance to do so, Maria looked into his eyes.

"I-I'm fine," she stuttered, trying with all her might to ignore the sudden fluttering in her belly. Why is he affecting me like this all of the sudden? He's a weirdo, a dangerous, good for nothing weirdo, who's never been afraid to make my life hell since he showed up in Roswell…

For some reason Maria couldn't tear her eyes away from Michael's. He was staring at her with that new look in his eyes. The memory of the moment in the diner when the gun had gone off suddenly flashed through Maria's mind.

She'd the one closest to the two arguing men and the moment the gun was visible, her first instinct had been to call out to Liz, because Liz always knew what to do. Before the word had entirely left her mouth, Maria felt a shadow of warmth next to her and in the next second, Michael Guerin was shielding her with his own body, looking at the strangers with nothing but death in his eyes.

The protectiveness he'd shown had put Maria at ease and she'd completely forgotten that on a normal day, the angry teen scared her out of her mind with his dangerous wibe. She hadn't had a lot of time to process her feelings before she looked over and spotted Liz lying on the floor. And then things happened too fast for Maria to keep track.

The one thing she did remember was the obvious reluctance that Michael had shown when he followed his two friends out the diner.

"So," Michael's voice ripped Maria back to the present time and she repressed a flinch with great force. "I kindda wanted to apologize to you."

Maria frowned, her frown increasing when she noticed just how close they were standing in the otherwise almost abandoned hallway. She took a step back to put some distance between them, ignoring that odd sensation just above her navel that seemed to grow whenever Michael wasn't within arm's reach.

"Apologize? For what?" Internally Maria added sarcastically, for stalking me and creeping me out more than I've ever been?

Oddly enough, Maria felt like Michael had read her mind, because he sent her a smile that was a mix between mild annoyance and sheepishness. "For showing up at your house after the shooting, I know that must have seemed weird. I mean," Michael ran a hand through his hair, looking frustrated all of the sudden, "Look, I'm not good with this kind of stuff. Words and all that…"

Maria swallowed a smile, suddenly she remembered a time from when they were kids and Michael had beat up the seventh grader that always picked on her. Maybe he isn't all bad, she amended to herself.

"Had this been a normal time, I would never have noticed you."

And then he goes and reminds me why he is such an ass. Maria fumed, crossing her arms.

Michael swallowed; apparently he realized that he'd messed up. "No, that's not what I meant," he hastened to explain. "I just…You're you and I'm…I was just gonna apologize for weirding you out, you probably had to take a lot of drops to keep calm and I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were all right, that's all."

"I don't think I've ever heard you talk so much." Maria commented and uncrossed her arms when Michael stopped for breath. She smiled halfheartedly and continued, "Apology accepted, just promise me not to start an apology like that ever again."

Michael grinned and the effect it had on Maria nearly made her legs turn to jelly. He looked absolutely beautiful and she had a sudden rush of…something, to her nether regions.

Michael's grin turned feral and Maria had a sinking feeling that he might know what was flashing through her mind and she started to walk down the hallway, eager to avoid any more words – and more importantly thoughts about the tall boy.

As she walked around the corner, Maria stopped at the sight before her. She barely acknowledged that Michael was standing extremely close behind her as she took in all the details.

Kyle Valenti was standing with his back to her, in front of Liz, but that wasn't the surprising thing. Maria had grown used to the jock's near obsession with her best friend over the summer. No, the thing that had literally stopped her in her tracks was the fact that Liz was standing next to Isabel Evans, looking for all the world like it was an everyday occurrence.

"Hey Isabel," Michael spoke behind her and Maria jumped when the three people in front of her suddenly turned their attention towards them.

Maria met Liz's eyes and she could clearly see that her friend was as confused about the whole thing as she was. For one brief moment, Maria felt sympathy for Liz and wanted nothing more than to lend a friendly ear to what had to be an interesting story, but then Kyle moved an inch to the right and Maria noticed that Isabel was holding on to Liz as though they'd been best friends forever.

Oh, Maria thought as she felt a wave of annoyance coming over her, this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. I'm gonna make her explain everything!

Max's POV

Max was wondering the halls, waiting for Liz to come seek him out to get some answers to the questions she'd more than likely build up since their biology class the day before. He was in the middle of trying to remember every little detail of that day when he almost crashed into Kyle Valenti.

Kyle Valenti, who had pushed him and Isabel aside and taken the killing blow from their common enemy, who'd died screaming before Max could run over and heal him, whose death had scarred his sister like nothing else had before –even Alex's murder.

"Watch it," Kyle muttered angrily and stomped away with a blush staining his cheeks. Max blinked out of the horrid memories of the future; the future that he'd do anything to keep from happening again, and looked in the direction Kyle had been coming from.

A part of him longed to go after the man who'd grown into one of his closest friends and make sure he was in fact breathing, the other, more realistic part, reminded Max just how their relationship had been in high school and he sighed, noticing his family behind him.

Michael and Isabel stood closely together next to the lockers; they too were eying Kyle's retreating form with shadows on their faces. Apparently I'm not the only one remembering; Max thought to himself and made his way over to his fellow hybrids.

"Hey Maxwell. Ready for things to heat up?" Michael asked when Max came to a stop beside him.

Max nodded and looked at his sister with furrowed brows. She looked paler than usual and it was clear as day that the sight of her best friend had gotten to her, maybe even more than the sight of Alex. After all they'd spent more years together than she ever did with her first love. Kyle and Isabel had been the single duo and their friendship had morphed into something extraordinary until his too early death.

"Izzy," Max waited until her matching eyes met his before continuing seriously, "it's not going to happen again. I won't let it."

Michael nodded his agreement and placed a finger on Isabel's exposed arm and another on Max's and thought out to them, `We won't let it happen.´

The ability to speak silently through touch had developed between the group in the original timeline. The ability had been discovered by Liz and Max one day during a battle between some of Khivar's men and the rest of the hybrid/human group of fugitives.

Between the couples, the ability was just a matter of concentration and practice. When it was needed between the non-lovers the ability required touch, which was why it wasn't used that many times, although the unexpected power had come in handy once or twice when the group needed to come up with plans quickly and silently.

Max mentally shook off the memories that were struggling to come to the surface and nodded sincerely at Michael's words, reminding himself that he didn't need to take responsibility for everything this time around, that the others could be trusted to come up with plans of their own.

"Why haven't you talked to Liz yet?" Isabel seemed to shake off her own turmoil and focus on the next step in their discussed plan.

Max sighed. "She hasn't sought me out yet. Before, she found me and demanded answers. I don't want to risk changing too much."

Michael shrugged and gestured to an area behind Max. "Well, I say you go in there and rip her away from Maria's claws, before my wife changes too many things her own self."

Max looked questioning over at his sister, who quickly explained. Max took a deep breath and prepared to go in-between Maria and her current target. I'm an alien king and I've killed more people than I can ever count –there's no logical explanation as to why I'm hesitating to interrupt Maria Deluca's interrogation…

Again memories of the future came seeping into Max's brain. He remembered the drama queen Maria had been as a teen, her loyalty and fierce protectiveness over the years. He recalled with an internal cringe how the sweet and carefree Maria had slowly turned into their interrogations expert whenever they managed to catch one of their enemies alive.

Max used to be the best at the torture, due to his own experiences, but a few years after the group had left Roswell, Maria had developed her own ability after one time where Max had healed a stab wound to her neck.

Maria's powers had been to look into a person's eyes and show them their greatest fear and then promise to make their nightmares come true. No old fashioned torture was needed after that had developed. The horrible images that Maria was subjected to changed her into a hard shell of the warm person she used to be. She still loved them all without question, but after a time only Michael and Liz could make her laugh.

Max swallowed a lump of regret, hoping that should he ever need to heal Maria again, her ability wouldn't be the same. With one more deep sigh, Max walked over to the door that Isabel had pointed out.

As he came closer, Max felt the bond reach out from inside him as Liz got nearer and he had to stop momentarily in front of the door to get the urge to passionately attack his soulmate under control. Feeling somewhat himself again, Max quickly knocked on the door and entered the normally unused classroom.

He managed to catch Maria's hiss of, "I thought best friends told each other everything Liz Parker," before the girls realized they were no longer alone and looked over at him. To his chagrin, Liz immediately paled, looking almost scared of him and Maria crossed her arms with a fierce scowl.

"We're kindda in the middle of something here, Evans. Come back later if you need to use the room, we'll be done then."

Liz gasped and instantly seemed to fall out of her scared persona, when she slapped Maria on the arm, muttering something about behaving herself.

Max wanted to smile and use one of the usual comments he always used whenever Maria was in a bad mood, but knowing that she hadn't spent any real time with him in this timeline stopped him.

"I was looking for Liz actually." He managed to say instead and instinctively placed his feet a bit further apart, prepared for anything from the blonde.

Maria rolled her eyes and turned to Liz. "Look, I'll call you tonight, okay? Let's just talk about everything there. No, wait;" she corrected herself with another eye roll, "I'm working after school so we'll talk then."

Liz was glancing over at Max and nodded absentmindedly, it was obvious that she was feeling conflicted. Max recognized the signs easily and before she could get a chance to somehow convince Maria to stay so he couldn't corner her, he looked over at Maria and said, "I think Michael's looking for you."

Maria froze and bit her lip. She suddenly looked nothing like the torture expert Max remembered and he couldn't quite stop himself from smiling fondly at her. To his surprise he noticed that Liz suddenly looked angry and he frowned in confusion.

Before he knew it, Maria had opened a window and was busy climbing out, apparently dignity wasn't a factor as she tried to avoid the other male hybrid. Max's lips twitched again and he couldn't wait to see how Michael could get her to fall for him this time around. In their other past, the ride had not been without bumps.

At least I know I won't have the same problems; Max thought with a little arrogant internal smirk, Liz once told me she had a crush on me for years before the shooting. His eyes left Maria's undignified exit and traveled over to Liz. Okay, maybe not…

The last thought flew into his mind when he spotted the way Liz had crossed her arms and was clenching her jaw and he knew that she was trying her hardest not to yell at him. What did I do? He thought and was about to ask the same thing out loud, but Liz straightened up and seemed about to speak herself so he kept quiet.

"I need to talk to you," she stated in an unusually cool voice.

Max nodded, eager for his past to morph into his new future, but a moment later he was the one struggling to keep on to his dignity when Liz spoke and he felt his jaw go slack in shock.

"Do you have feelings for Maria? I'm only asking because I do know she's never said anything about crushing on you and I don't want you to get your hopes up."

After a few more seconds of trying his best to look unaffected, Max asked with forced calm, "Why do you say that?" And aren't you itching to ask about the DNA sample?

Liz blinked and looked down, but not before Max caught a glimpse of her burning cheeks. What is going on here? Has Maria talking to her really altered that much? I was so careful to follow my memory yesterday in biology class…

"Um," Liz finally began to talk and Max stared intently down at her, not really realizing that he'd stepped closer to her until now. "You just looked a lot happier to see her than I've ever noticed before."

What? Max was completely perplexed until he remembered how fondly he'd been watching Maria's haste to avoid Michael. Oh no – she can't possibly think? I love you Liz, more than anything else…

"Okay, judging from that shell-shocked look on your face, I might have gotten things mixed up a bit." Liz muttered and fidgeted on her feet, looking for all the world as though she wished the ground would swallow her whole.

"So," she took a deep breath and seemed to shake the allegations and subsequent embarrassment off, "why were you looking for me?"

"Well," Max thought quickly on his feet, coming up with a lame excuse, "you just sort of looked a bit weird today in class so I just wanted to check up on you, that's all."

Liz's eyes widened and it was apparent that she suddenly remembered about the discovery she'd made and she placed her book bag on the table, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Actually, I'm glad you mentioned that…we kindda need to talk – about everything. I have some questions."

Max nodded and knew with a fast beating heart that she was about to finally breach the subject of the healing and DNA. "Ask me anything."

Seemingly surprised about how easily he'd given in, Liz nodded resolutely and began pulling a piece of paper out of her jeans pocket. Max had a hard time not grinning like a fool when he remembered the last time they'd been in this position, even then she'd scribbled down various questions.

"All right," Liz started, "here we go. Where did you come from?"

Max smiled and took a deep breath and started answering the question. This time he was almost eagerly waiting to tell her things that hadn't even occurred to him before –especially about his powers, due to the fact that he now had a lot more knowledge about them then the first time around.

And the best part of all of this, Max thought as he delved into a more complex explanation that Liz was listening rapidly too, is that there's no way Sheriff Valenti is gonna come after us as long as I warn her about the dead bodies beforehand.

Sheriff Valenti's POV

Sheriff Jim Valenti was staring hard down at the photos in front of him. His eyes never strayed from the image of body after body branded with an odd silver handprint. A silver handprint his old man had talked about as a sign of aliens.

A belief that had shattered his family and a belief that Jim had sworn never to succumb to himself. But it was getting harder and harder and he knew why.

At first there had been the shooting with no bullet in the local diner, an occurrence he'd written off as something a little weird, but not unexplainable. Then he'd been having his after work meal at the Crashdown the night before and he'd watched as Liz Parker's shirt had ridden up and revealed the exact same handprint that he was now staring at on a picture of a dead body from the fifties.

With a sigh of frustration and disgust, Jim threw the pictures on his desk and grabbed his phone. A moment later he quietly said, "Sheriff Valenti, I need to talk to someone about something regarding a chain of unsolved and peculiar murders in Roswell."

The silence in his office was uncomfortable and Jim suddenly longed for a radio of all things to listen to, when a businesslike female voice stated, "This is agent Topolsky, how may I help you, Sheriff?"

 

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TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time in The Anterian Timetravellers: Michael and Max bonds with Alex in gym, Maria tries to get to the bottom of things and Isabel gets a job.


	5. Alex, Kyle, Max and Maria

CHAPTER FIVE

Alex POV

When Alex woke up that morning, he had a distinct feeling in his gut telling him that he should seriously consider just rolling over and get back to sleep. Of course, the second he was beginning to entertain the thought, his bedroom door opened and his ever-eager father stuck his head through the door and reminded him that he was supposed to get up.

Alex groaned and swung his long legs out of the bed, wiping his tired eyes. He hadn't slept very well and the only time he'd actually managed to sleep long enough to dream, he'd had a weird feeling throughout the entire thing.

Walking into his tiny bathroom to get ready for the day, Alex thought back to the dream itself. It had been about Isabel Evans; they usually were, but this time it had been different. At first it had been a regular dream come true scenario with her showing up in a beautiful, tight red blouse that really showed off her voluptuous figure. Some of the guys that usually gave Alex a hard time in real life were crowding her and he'd appeared like a knight in shining armor to beat those bullies into submission. Isabel had swooned and gasped at all the appropriate moments and just as he'd moved in for a kiss of gratitude and unparalleled passion, things turned strange.

Isabel's voice sounded from behind him and Alex found himself turning around, locking eyes with another Isabel. This one looked just as perfect as the one he'd rescued from the jocks, but there was something in her eyes that alerted him to the fact that she wasn't particularly proud of him at that moment.

"Really, Alex? Damsel in distress? I had no idea you thought of me that way."

Made braver by the fact that he just knew it was a dream, Alex smiled confidently. "You looked like you needed a hand, Isabel."

Isabel's answering smile had caused him to twitch a certain place that even his dream self could feel. "I'll always need you to help me," she whispered, almost inaudibly as she took a step closer.

Alex was enraptured by those big coffee eyes that looked into him as though she was staring into his very soul. "I'll always try to help you…" The promise left his lips before he could control it and he frowned. Realistically he knew that, seeing as he was aware that he was dreaming, he should be able to control everything that happened, but a part of him also knew that he had nothing to do with what had just happened.

Isabel was suddenly right in front of him, gazing intently at him. She looked like he was the best thing she'd ever laid her beautiful eyes on and he felt a bit uncomfortable in his dream self's tight pants and in the next second he was wearing loose sweats. Thank God for dream powers.

"I really want you to remember this Alex," Isabel slowly said, "I'm not inapproachable, you can talk to me and I swear I won't turn you down."

Alex swallowed, this was a dream, he had to remind himself about that, and said quietly, "I'll try to remember that, but I just have to turn around and kiss the damsel I just saved before I wake up. Okay?"

Isabel's brown eyes turned mischievous and she tilted her head teasingly. "That's just a weaker version of me; you can kiss me instead, I won't mind."

Alex felt a brief flare of intense hesitation and remained rooted in his spot. To his surprise, something darkened in Isabel's eyes for a moment before she smiled again. "I know this won't be as good as the real thing," she told him and stepped even closer, "but I just really need this to live on until it can happen in real life. I hope you understand."

Isabel's slender arms came up around his neck and Alex felt himself being gently, but firmly pushed even closer to the human deity in front of him. Isabel made sure Alex's eyes were trained on hers and just before she moved the last inches to kiss him, she whispered sincerely, "I love you, Alex Whitman."

Then her full, warm lips were on his and Alex's life turned upside down. His entire being turned into a ball of fire, fire that didn't burn, but heated up his insides almost painfully – he didn't know how long it took, but he mentally roared for relief, the unexpected ecstasy was just too much. The fire slowly made its way down his body and settled just above his navel, and the second before he jolted awake in his own bed in the middle of the night, Alex remembered meeting Isabel's eyes yet again and they were widened in shock that echoed his own.

"Alex, are you up yet?"

Alex's flinched out of the memory of the peculiar dream and concentrated on his father's voice through the door. "Yeah, I'm coming down in a minute."

"Okay," Mr. Whitman's muffled reply reminded Alex that he really shouldn't be standing with his toothbrush in his mouth anymore and that he didn't have a lot of time before school.

Fifteen minutes later, Alex reached the school's parking lot and jumped off his bicycle. He was in the middle of locking it to the stand, when he was interrupted in his task by some of the jocks that Kyle Valenti hung around with, the very same he'd dreamt about.

"Oh, Whitman, you're just so cool for daring to show up with that thing. What's the matter? Too afraid to pollute the world with a car?"

Alex mentally rolled his eyes, grabbed his book bag and headed towards the school building without as much as a grunt in reply to the usual taunt. A part of him wished he could just smack them around as effortlessly as he did in his dreams, but Alex was nothing if not realistic. He wouldn't stand a chance against the much beefier guys, so he opted for staying away from them as much as possible.

But then Alex remembered that gut feeling he'd had before getting up earlier and groaned quietly. It was going to be a bad day today; not only because of that unusual dream he'd had, not because ever since he'd shared that kiss with dream Isabel, he'd had an irritating itch above his navel that kept throbbing almost painfully as though waiting for something to relieve it. No, the main reason Alex was convinced the day would suck was due to the fact that he had gym today and it was a class he shared with the before mentioned pack of jocks.

Kyle's POV

Kyle was not having a great day, hell; his entire week hadn't exactly been a picnic. First Liz hadn't kept her promise to go out with him, ending up ignoring his calls and making him feel like a fool. Then he'd been humiliated in front of her by her best friend. And as though that wasn't enough, his dad was being way more secretive than he normally was. He'd tried his hardest to get the man to talk about whatever it was that was bothering him, but his dad just kept saying that it was official police business and not for kids.

And now this; Kyle sighed and tried to ignore the fact that his good friend, Johnny and some other teammates was in the midst of their daily ritual to mock the gangly Whitman. Not for the first time, Kyle wished he had the courage to step in-between and put an end to things. But he didn't, there was a part of him that just wasn't ready or brave enough to face the outcome of loser status if he did in fact interfere.

I'm just a big coward when it comes down to it, Kyle thought to himself and followed Johnny to the first class of the day, I'll never be brave enough to step in-between anything, let alone a guy being picked on.

As the day went on, Kyle's mood lifted a bit and he was laughing along with his friends over some stupid joke when he entered the locker room to change for gym class. He high fived Johnny and went over to his locker and started changing into the school's mandatory uniform.

A shadow fell over him while he was busy tying his shoelaces for his sneakers. He looked up and immediately looked back down again at the sight of Alex, who was in the middle of changing into the uniform. The look on the tall teenagers face clearly revealed that he was just waiting for Kyle to say something, anything to him.

Kyle swallowed a sigh and straightened up, feeling his fragile hold on his good mood fly out the metaphorical windows in his mindscape. He turned his back on Alex, without acknowledging his presence and walked over to Johnny and launched into a conversation about some movie he'd seen. He didn't even realize that he was distracting Johnny from noticing the nerdy Whitman until Alex rushed by them and into the gym and Johnny exclaimed loudly, "Aw man, you made me miss my dose of `get on Whitman's nerves´."

Kyle tried to smile a friendly smile, but even he could feel the tension in his lips. "Well, Johnny boy, you'll just have to find another opportunity, I guess. Come on before we're late."

When they entered the big room, Kyle found himself seeking out Alex and he quickly looked over at some of the other students present, annoyed at himself for his sudden interest in the local geek boy. The gym teacher didn't show up despite the fact that the bell had already sounded and most of the students were getting edgy. Kyle included.

Just as Johnny suggested that they should bail the class to go play some hoops, the door opened in the end of the room and one of the less popular teacher's strode in, Mr. Grayson. Overweight, pushing fifty and bald; this was a guy who was getting more and more bitter with each passing day and for once all cliques in the class were in complete agreement. They all groaned noisily and tried to ignore the content smile on their hated teacher's face, knowing that he would most assuredly put them through the ringer.

"Well, the coach couldn't make it in today. So seeing as I'm the only option available, you'll just have to deal with that. Now, you there!" Mr. Grayson pointed a beefy finger at some small, trembling guy, who was standing next to Michael Guerin, "Go fetch some dodgeballs and hurry up!"

"Dodgeball?" Kyle muttered and crossed his arms in resignation, next to him Johnny was hollering in delight. Despite the fact that he was athletic and fast, Kyle hated the sport. He had a sudden memory of how he'd once been hit in the face as a young kid in elementary school and how Alex had comforted him and gone with him to the school's nurse.

Why am I obsessing over geek boy all of the sudden? Kyle wondered internally, sitting down on the bleacher closest to him. It's not like we're even friends, I just feel bad for him sometimes.

The poor kid, who'd been sent after the cursed red balls, came running back a few minutes later with the net trailing behind him. He was wheezing hard and muttering something about asthma. Johnny and a few of Kyle's other friends laughed hard when Mr. Grayson simply turned his back on him after ordering him to grow a spine.

Kyle didn't laugh, for some reason he just didn't possess the will to be the mocking jock today. To his surprise he watched silently as the normally so withdrawn Max Evans walked over to the wheezing guy and patted him consolingly on the shoulder. Oddly enough, the asthma attack seemed to blow over in the next minute. Maybe he just needed some reassurance, Kyle concluded before turning his attention on Mr. Grayson, who was reminding them all about the rules of the game.

"Now that I've spelled things out for you all, let's get going with this time honored tradition. And to keep it even more old fashioned why don't we divide the two teams into popular versus unpopular kids. You do the dividing." Mr. Grayson had an almost evil look in his eyes and Kyle thanked the heavens that the older man wasn't their regular gym teacher.

Some of the students stood idly by, ignoring the protests given by others. Kyle was of course put in with the popular crowd within mere seconds and he sat quietly waiting for the selection to be completed.

It went by smoothly for the most part, although Kyle's attention was caught by one of the other jocks going over to Max Evans and Michael Guerin. "Oh man, I can't believe he's that stupid," Johnny chuckled as he sat down next to Kyle, also looking at what was taking place.

"What are you talking about?" another one of Kyle's teammates asked from the sideline and Kyle automatically answered, without looking away from the sight in front of him.

"Guerin never plays against Evans. Don't ask me why, even when we were kids, he pitched a fit whenever he was placed on another team. If he didn't get his way, he didn't play. Or got aggressive about it." Kyle added as an afterthought as he watched Guerin send his patented glare down at the popular jock, who barely reached his chin.

Max Evans, being the typical peacemaker, a real bore, if one asked Kyle, stepped in-between the growing tension and at first Kyle thought the dark haired Evans would silently convince them all to just get along or whatever, but to his surprise, Evans' glower matched Guerin's and even from his location, Kyle could see the threat in Evans' brown eyes.

Okay, maybe not so boring after all, Kyle amended and shook himself out of his pensive mood when Mr. Grayson blew the whistle to start off the game.

The red balls flew everywhere and it was obvious that the "popular" kids were having a blast targeting the people they ridiculed on a daily basis; knowing that their teacher wouldn't object to anything they did.

Kyle caught a ball sent his way and immediately threw it at the closest target, which just happened to be Michael Guerin. The bigger teenager wasn't even looking his way, so Kyle was already beginning to search for another ball, when Guerin's hand snapped the ball inches away from making contact with his face.

"Sorry Kyle," Guerin called over his shoulder, looking genuinely rueful, a look Kyle hadn't expected at all, "you'll be out soon."

Kyle went to stand by the other "casualties," waiting to be sent back in the game. As he surveyed the floor, he noticed that Guerin's team now was down to three players; Michael, Max and Alex.

Whereas the other team had more than double the amount of players, Kyle rolled his eyes, knowing that things would undoubtedly turn a bit ugly now.

A few seconds later, Kyle recognized the predatory gleam in Johnny's eyes as they locked on Alex and he sighed. Now just hit him and let's end this stupid game, Kyle thought as Johnny started verbally taunting the lanky teenager, who was halfway covered by Evans and Guerin's bodies.

"Whoa there," Johnny mocked, twirling a ball casually on his finger, "when did you get bodyguards, Whitman?"

Alex looked as surprised about his helpers as Kyle was, he kept casting glances their way, while tensing in preparation for the ball in Johnny's hand to hit him.

"He doesn't need bodyguards," Evans said, causing Kyle's eyebrows to rise at the sound of legitimate anger in the quiet boy's voice, "I just don't want you to forget there are other players on this team."

Guerin nodded in agreement and smirked. Kyle had a distinct feeling that the roles were reversed and Johnny was the last one to notice. They look as though they're playing with him; like he's nothing but a squashed bug under their shoes.

Eventually, it seemed to hit Johnny that the two normally so reclusive guys were on a whole other level than what he used to hunt for bullying wise and he lowered his arm hesitantly. Kyle repressed a smile when in the next moment, Alex sent a hard ball right into Johnny's face. It looked like it hurt and Johnny was scowling when he made his way over to Kyle. Behind him, Kyle watched the trio decimate the rest of the other team and end up winning, much to Mr. Grayson's visible chagrin.

The bitter teacher blew his whistle and ended the class. Kyle started walking to the locker room slowly trailing the other students, but stopped when he realized that Johnny wasn't next to him anymore.

Kyle turned around and saw Evans and Guerin was now standing in front of Johnny, looking extremely different than how they normally did. They look like they wouldn't care if they had to kill him.

Swallowing down a hint of irrational fear, Kyle walked back and stopped next to his annoying friend, catching the end of Guerin's words, "…again and I'll personally see to it that you'll never have a good day ever again."

Alex was standing next to Evans, looking decidedly uncomfortable about the tension. "Look guys, let's just forget today and go change…"

Kyle hated to admit it, but he really was in complete agreement with Alex. He crossed his arms, trying to show off the muscles he'd worked so hard to gain, "Look, I'm with Whitman on this. Let's just stop it, okay. Johnny's learned his lesson, right?" Kyle sent a warning glance at the other guy, who was still locked in a staring contest with Evans.

"Evans!" Kyle interrupted the stare down and added when Evans blinked out of it and focused his dark eyes on Kyle. "Enough, all right. I'm sorry that-"

"Don't apologize for him," Guerin demanded abruptly. "You didn't do anything wrong; he did."

"Whatever, he's my pal," Kyle stated, "he might be an idiot, but I'm not gonna stand here and watch you threaten him. Like you apparently, I'll protect my friends too."

The words seemed to cause some kind of double flinch in the two guys, their eyes turned dark, as though they were seeing something only they could see and Kyle fought back an urge to fidget uncomfortably. They blinked in tandem and re-focused on Kyle, suddenly looking a lot older than their sixteen years of age.

"Try to choose friends that deserve your loyalty," Evans muttered and nodded before turning to leave. Guerin nodded, almost respectfully, at Kyle too, and followed Evans and Alex without another word. In the distance Kyle heard them invite Alex to the Crashdown to hang out, but he was too far away to hear the reply.

Johnny huffed next to him, gently touching his swollen nose. "What was that all about, man? They looked like they wanted to kill me for a second there."

Kyle shrugged and made his way towards the changing rooms again, "I don't know."

Johnny was right next to him, still caught up in the memory of the confrontation. "And what about that weirdo way they looked at you? I mean, they looked like they wanted you to join their loser cult or something like that."

Again, Kyle shrugged and started getting ready for the shower. A part of him was just as confused as Johnny, but there was a bigger part that had felt an unexplainable longing to just go with the other guys, something inside him felt as though he was betraying them for not going with them to the diner. The longing was something he usually only felt whenever he was in Liz's presence.

Shaking off the peculiar feeling, Kyle walked to the showers; I'm probably just tired; there's no way I'd ever willingly hang out with those losers.

Max's POV

After the eventful gym class, Max and Michael led Alex to the jeep, promising to drive him to school the next day, so he didn't have to walk over later and collect his bike.

Michael chatted with Alex good humouredly, expertly ignoring the slightly panicked look in the other boy's eyes. Max wished he could just blurt out everything and be done with it, but he knew that would most likely cause Alex to jump out of the moving vehicle and run for the hills.

With a sigh, Max pulled into the Crashdown's parking lot. The throb from the bond he shared with Liz was growing, as though it could feel her presence nearby and he was halfway through the parking lot before Alex had even taken off his seatbelt. A quick glance behind him, told Max that Michael was just as eager to go inside because of Maria, but he was keeping pace with Alex and Max briefly scolded himself and slowed down.

"So," Alex began as he opened the door to the Crashdown, "not that I'm not happy for the help today, but I gotta ask what brought this on? I can't really help you with your homework or anything. I'm not that smart; I guess, I could always ask Liz, but-"

Max's heart thumped at the mention of his soulmate, but he quickly interrupted Alex's babbling, "No, Alex. We just wanted to hang out with you. We've heard many good things about you from Isabel." There, Max thought smugly, let him chew on that for a while.

As Max had already suspected would happen, Alex went bright red and he smiled hesitantly. "I-Isabel? As in your sister, Isabel? Isabel Evans, I mean?"

"Somebody say my name?"

Max, who was already aware of his sister's presence due to some of the future expertise that he'd taken with him to the past, didn't flinch at the unexpected interruption. He merely nodded and gestured for her to take a seat next to a smirking Michael. He acted as though he didn't notice the sudden tension in Alex, nor how the youth's eyes were firmly trained on Isabel's with an almost adoring look in his eyes.

Max's keen observational skills caught Alex's hand rubbing his stomach, as though something irritated him. That's what the rest of us do when our bond itches for touch. But Isabel never bonded with Alex; they never had the chance to. What have you been doing, Iz?

Forcing the questions out of his mind, Max concentrated on Isabel instead. Her face had developed a brief frown and she quickly glanced behind her to the table she came from. "I'd love to join you in a minute; I just have to let my so called friends know."

I wonder when she'll manage to get rid of them, Max thought, while his eyes all by themselves sought out the magnificent vision that was his wife in the background. When they were friends in the original timeline, she got frozen out because of something with Maria; she never did say what happened…

Thinking about the blonde, who'd turned into one of his best friends, Max's eyes reluctantly slid past his love and onto Maria, who was standing behind her. To his mild indignation, Max realized that the look in Maria's eyes weren't the least bit trusting. She looks like she wants to rip my head off and fill it with potpourri. She never looked like at me like that before…

There was an inkling suspicion as to why Maria wasn't feeling all friendly toward him, now that Max thought about it. In the original timeline, Liz had learned of his alien status and within half a day, Maria had somehow learned the truth. But now it had been a few days since Max had revealed everything to Liz and by the looks of it, she hadn't spoken a word of it to her friend.

Max sighed inwardly, trying to come up with a solution. He felt weary, not only due to this new problem, but because there was a part of him that didn't know what Liz was really thinking about everything. Every since he'd confessed the alien story, Liz had been trying to avoid him. He knew, realistically speaking, that she was just thinking things over, contemplating all the pro's and con's of his tale, before involving herself, just like last time. But the other part of him wanted nothing more than to force her to realize that they were meant to be and that he wasn't dangerous at all.

Well, Max amended, smirking slightly, at least not to her.

Suddenly all thoughts of building something with this "new" Liz vanished, because Max watched how Maria stomped towards their table with a plate of cherry cola's, he watched how she passed Isabel's table and how one of his sister's ditzy followers put out her leg from under the table and tripped Maria with an evil giggle.

A second later, Maria was on the floor, splattered in soda and glass shards from the broken glasses. To Max's horror, she was holding her right hand with her left; it was bleeding fiercely down her uniform and onto the floor. It didn't surprise him, though, because in the middle of her hand was a big piece of glass that completely penetrated her skin.

Maria POV

School was over, it hadn't been a normal day; in fact it hadn't been a normal week, Maria determined. She watched the reason for the one of the abnormalities with a frown.

Liz was avoiding her, doing her best to act frantic and busy, which, Maria had to admit, they were right now with the rush of after school customers pouring in at the Crashdown, but still. Watching her dark haired friend grab another pair of Will Smith Specials and quickly make her way through the tables to deliver them, Maria decided that she'd had enough.

As Liz handed over another order from one of the newly filled tables to the cook, Jose, Maria huffed and grabbed her best friend firmly by the arm and literally dragged her out to the backroom.

"So Liz, what gives? Did I suddenly turn radioactive without anyone telling me?"

Liz, being the incredible and annoyingly smart girl that she was, seemed to have anticipated Maria's question and acted as though it was a ridiculous question. "Are you okay, Maria? Have Dad been working you too hard, 'cause I think you're getting delusional."

Narrowing her eyes, Maria tried to act just as casual as the brunette. "That's funny. You know, I have been seeing things lately; you hanging around with a girl that usually scares the crap out of us. Especially me; your best friend, who showed up with your homework last month when you were sick, even though I had to read up on my history for a pop quiz the next day."

Liz rolled her eyes and smiled a little. "Don't even go there De Luca, because of my notes you aced that quiz, remember that?"

Damn, Maria thought, trying to come up with another way to guilt Liz into confessing whatever it was that she was obviously hiding.

"Look, Liz," Maria went with honesty after a brief internal debate, "I'm actually getting worried here. You never avoid me, you're not yourself. You haven't been this mean to anyone ever; not even Pam Troy. I just," a sigh escaped Maria's lips before she continued, "know that the shooting changed something between us and I don't want that. Whatever's going on, I can totally handle it. Trust me."

Liz's eyes glinted with something for a second, she looked like she was on the verge of breaking and Maria swallowed a smug smile and waited. Just as Liz opened her mouth, the door behind her was banged open and Mr. Parker reminded them that they were in fact working and that they weren't being paid to stand around talking about boys.

"Argh, Mr. Parker," Maria practically growled when Liz seemed to snap out of her hesitation and all but run back out to the diner floor to serve the customers. "You just can't help yourself, can you?"

Mr. Parker raised his eyebrows, looking completely confused over the harsh tone in his daughter's best friend's voice, but Maria brushed by him, eager to catch Liz unaware again as soon as possible.

I hope she's not in any kind of trouble, Maria thought worriedly as she absentmindedly placed a soda in front of the guy she had been crushing on. Except, Maria suddenly realized, forgetting about Liz for a fraction of a second, he's not doing anything for me anymore. That's odd, even for me; I normally don't jump from crush to crush like this.

Unexpectedly, an image of a smirking Michael erupted inside her mind and Maria placed her hand on the added throbbing just above her navel at the thought of the strange boy. I can't waste my time thinking about him right now, Maria scolded herself and quickly ran over to take another person's order, I have to make sure Liz isn't having problems that her brilliant mind can't get her out of.

For the next half hour there was so much to do, so many customers that Maria barely had time to breathe, let alone concentrate on interrogating her best friend. She did however manage to send the confused Mr. Parker a glare every now and then, which served to lift her mood to a somewhat tolerable level.

Of course the mood took a complete dive the moment she spotted Isabel Evans entering the diner, along with her two stupid friends. Maria briefly entertained the thought that she should go over and take their orders, so that Liz wouldn't get involved with yet another Evans, but fortunately for Maria's peace of mind, the third waitress, Agnes, strolled over and took the table. I guess that's for the best, Maria thought, Isabel does scare the living daylights out of me anyway.

A few minutes later, Maria was standing behind Liz, waiting impatiently for her finished order from the flirty Jose, when she suddenly felt a pang of…something in her belly and she placed her hand on her stomach with a soft gasp escaping her lips. To her surprise, Maria noticed that Liz had turned around; looking over her shoulder with her hand placed the exact same place as Maria's.

Full of trepidation, Maria copied Liz and turned around slowly, ignoring her every impulse to flee. When she saw just who had entered the Crashdown, she had to repress the instinct on a whole other level. Why is he always around so much these days? Maria mentally moaned and straightened up when Michael made his way over to an abandoned booth, followed closely by Max and to her big surprise, Alex.

Alex looked oddly comfortable amongst the two boys, but even Maria could see the confusion pouring out of the tall teenager. It shone like a beacon of light in the middle of the night. Or, Maria reasoned with an internal eye roll over her unwanted poetic side, like a geeky teenager being suddenly befriended by two mysterious loners.

Liz brought her back from her perusing by turning her head a fraction to let her gaze linger on Max. She looked like she was battling both some fear and some longing. Maria's protective instincts immediately kicked in and ignoring the uncharacteristically wide smile that Michael sent her way, she glared venomously at Max.

He seemed to be able to feel her stare, because his eyes slowly turned from Liz's to hers instead. His deep brown eyes widened a bit at first before narrowing as he calmly returned her gaze. If you're some evil doer out to hurt Liz, I'll get my mom's pepper spray and make sure your eye sockets will forget they ever had eyes!

"Maria," Liz's voice reached Maria in the middle of some pretty detailed fantasy and she blinked out of her staring contest with Max and focused on Liz.

"What? I didn't do anything." She defended, but Liz merely raised a brow in obvious disbelief. "Fine, whatever," Maria muttered, "I'll just get them their stupid cherry cola's."

Liz bit her lip, looking for all the world as though she wanted nothing more than to go over to Max's table herself, but Maria didn't give her a chance to say so. A moment later, she was weaving her way through the tables toward Alex, Michael and Max.

The closer Maria got to the table, the more her stomach started to itch. If this doesn't go away soon, I'll have to go to Mom's healer and see if she can't get me some calming drops that actually work for once. Oh, Michael has pretty eyes. Wait, Maria furrowed her brows; where did that come from? I really need to-

A movement out of the corner of her eyes, was all the warning Maria got before she felt herself trip over a tanned leg and she stumbled forward and pain erupted violently from her hand.

As though in a daze, Maria looked down and saw a big piece of the now broken glass piercing her skin, right through her hand. Blood was oozing out of the wound from around the glass. Vaguely she heard a sound and glanced up.

Michael was running towards her, pushing people out of the way without mercy, he looked almost feral. Isabel literally dragged the girl, who'd tripped her out the door and didn't come back right away. Liz was already sitting next to her, cooing calming nonsense in her ear. Alex was making sure people didn't crowd her and Max was right behind Michael, looking extremely unlike his normal blank self.

"Maria, Baby, are you okay?" Maria heard Michael ask with a frantic tone in his voice. "Max, do something, please!"

Maria blinked, the pain was distracting her too much to really care about what was happening around her. She did, however, hear Mr. Parker say that he would take her to the hospital. Michael offered to take her himself, while Liz stated that she was coming with her to the hospital.

Michael hovered next to her and Maria found herself soothed by his presence alone, a notion that would probably have scared her senseless before her injury, but now it was merely that; soothing. "That's okay," she muttered, interrupting Mr. Parker, "I'll be fine."

"No, that looks bad, it'll be fixed right up, I promise Baby." Michael's voice again. Maria briefly wondered about the pet name, but didn't mention it, because Michael had turned to Max again, "Max, help her. It looks bad; I don't wanna see her bleed again. I can't. Please."

The pain flared up again and Maria couldn't quite contain a groan of agony; she was sorry that Michael had such a bad reaction to her blood, and thankful for the fact that he seemed to think Max could actually help her, but he was just a young man and not a doctor. So, she turned to Mr. Parker, about to agree to the hospital idea, when Michael spoke again, this time sounding both pleading and extremely angry.

"You'd do it in a heartbeat, if it was your-"

To her astonishment, Max suddenly seemed to radiate authority and power; instinctively she felt herself cower next to Liz, who'd also tensed up the moment Michael spoke. Instead of ramming Michael as she'd expected him to, Max simply placed his hand on Michael bare arm and looked him intently in the eyes.

Michael deflated a few seconds later and looked away with an almost shamed expression on his face. Then Max finally spoke. "Mr. Parker, please go get me a towel."

The much older man quickly returned with the demanded cloth and handed it down to Max, who was crouching in front of Maria. He looked her deeply in the eyes and stated gently, "This won't hurt more than a second after I'm done."

Maria gasped in pain when Max suddenly grabbed the piece of glass in her hand and yanked it out, looking as though blood and injuries were a part of his everyday life. He quickly wrapped the towel around her bleeding hand and for one nanosecond, Maria could swear she felt a warmth spreading in her hand before all pain simply disappeared.

"What the…"she whispered and glanced down at Max's big hand on top of the towel. There was still a wound, no question about it, she could feel the cut in her hand, sense the blood flowing, albeit slower now, but there was undoubtedly still an open wound. What she couldn't feel was any kind of pain; any at all.

"She'll need stitches," Max said and got up, pulling Maria to her feet effortlessly, "Michael and me will take her to the hospital, Mr. Parker." He didn't give the older man a chance to protest as he started making his way through the other customers towards the door.

Just as they reached the door, it opened and Isabel stepped back inside. She looked murderous and Maria stopped moving in shock. She vividly remembered all the sneers and superior looks Isabel had given her over the years and would much prefer to receive one of those looks then the one she was being given now.

She looks like she's gonna kill me, Maria decided and swallowed, all her confusion about the painless injury momentarily pushed aside. Behind her, Maria heard Liz arguing with her dad about coming with them to the hospital. Eager to avoid the glare of death from Isabel, Maria turned her head and watched Mr. Parker run a hand through his dark brown hair.

"Look, Lizzie, I'm sorry, but I can't handle the diner without you. Agnes is going home, said she couldn't handle all the blood, so you're all I've got. I'm sorry Sweetie."

"I can help."

The words froze the arguing family members and Maria turned back and looked at the speaker with incredulity shining out of her eyes – and a little bit of fear, to be honest.

Isabel Evans was standing with her arms crossed, her vicious glare was slowly turning back into the blank mask she usually wore and she looked genuinely sincere. "You don't know how to wait tables," Maria protested meekly and Isabel looked down at her, scaring her even more by actually smiling.

"It was my…friend, who did this and I feel bad. I've done this once before, and although it's been a while, I think I'll manage. Besides, Liz will help me out with everything I might need. Right, Liz?"

Maria's attention snapped back to Liz, who was – for once – looking just as afraid as Maria felt. Again Maria had the distinct feeling that there was obviously something going on that she didn't know about. After a long minute, Liz straightened up with a small smile. "Sure, Isabel. Let's go see if there's a uniform in the back that you can use. Call me as soon as you're home, Maria." Liz demanded, leading the way for Isabel.

Maria caught the almost amused look Isabel sent back to Max and the still hovering Michael. Maria also noticed how her eyes softened more than just a little at the sight of Alex, who had placed himself next to Maria, obviously completely determined to follow her to the hospital.

Michael's touch brought her back to the present and a few moments later, they were all sitting in Max's jeep. Michael's arm was around her shoulders and he kept asking her if she was okay. Maria felt like she was dreaming. All her worries and theories were in the back of her mind at the moment, the only thing she worried about now was whether or not Isabel would become a regular waitress at the Crashdown.

If that's the case, Maria thought, leaning into Michael, unconsciously seeking his protection and warmth, I think I might die from stress before I even graduate high school. If Queen Amidala doesn't kill me first, I mean.

TBC…

 

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	6. Max, Liz, Michael, Liz and Kathleen

CHAPTER SIX

Max's POV

They had been driving for nearly ten minutes and were just pulling into the parking lot at the local hospital. Max killed the engine and turned to look behind him at Michael. The sight of his second in command covering the smaller blonde with his large frame was something he honestly hadn't thought he'd see so early in this new life they'd embarked upon. A small part of him was envious of the way Maria seemingly just allowed his friend to touch her without any reservations. The more realistic part of him knew that Maria was probably just in shock and would return with vengeance at the earliest opportunity.

At the same time that his emotions were wrecking havoc inside him, Max was also cursing himself out. Hating the fact that he hadn't expected anything like this incident to happen and he couldn't help but worry over how much it could potentially alter the timeline.

"Come on, Maria and let's get someone to look at that hand." Alex said and broke the heavy silence in the car, opening the door. Max noticed absentmindedly how the taller teen was rubbing his stomach with an almost annoyed look on his face before he focused on Maria.

Max decided to worry about his rising suspicions later about that familiar movement and caught Michael's eyes, nodding in Alex's direction. "You go with him and we'll be right behind you."

Michael frowned, "Max, I can take her in. I think she'll be more comfortable with-"

Max interrupted calmly, "I just need to talk to Maria for a few seconds; it won't be long and Maria won't mind; will you, Maria?"

Maria's dazed looking eyes finally turned in his direction and for one small moment, Max could see the iron will she had possessed in his time, giving her the strength to face anything. "Sure," she muttered and started making her way out of Michael's firm embrace.

Michael looked nothing short of tortured, but conceded his hold on Maria when Max sent him a unyielding look. "We'll be waiting just inside the entrance," he told Max and finally left.

Maria took a deep breath and asked quietly, "so what's up, Evans? I kindda need to go in there before I bleed out or whatever."

Max ran a hand through his hair and turned around to fully face her. His eyes must have portrayed his seriousness, because Maria's breath hitched and she tensed temporarily before leaning back against the car seat.

I can't tell her anything until she's seen a doctor, Max decided and said softly, "Maria, I need you to trust me on this. Don't say anything about the numbness in your hand, okay? Act like it hurts when the doctor starts prodding you, before you'll be stitched up."

Maria furrowed her brows and leaned forward a bit, "I don't understand; what are you talking about?"

"I know this sounds weird, but I need you to trust me; I'll tell you everything later. I promise."

Maria eyed him for a long time and for one second, it was like she'd somehow gained her horrific ability to see into him and make his worst nightmares come to life. Max bore the stare, reminding himself that he'd suffered through a lot worse than a pissed off Maria Deluca.

"Okay," Maria eventually agreed and exited the car slowly, holding her injured hand close to her. Just as Max followed her, she suddenly turned around and pointed at him with a severely intense look in her eyes, "but I'm so keeping you to that promise, Max Evans; I have to know whatever it is that's going on so I can help Liz."

That's the girl I remember, always thinking about others, Max thought with a fond smile. The smile quickly disappeared though, when she glared and turned back toward the hospital.

Fortunately it was a slow day at the hospital, so they didn't have to wait more than fifteen minutes; okay, maybe Max had sent Michael over to work his charm on one of the nurses, but still, it didn't take as long as expected.

When Maria had suffered through having her hand stitched, and Max promised himself to never let her go through that ever again, future ability be damned, they started making their way back to the jeep in silence.

On the way there, Max spotted a group of three people stopping near the entrance to the hospital, and he immediately tensed up, preparing to fight if need be. Next to him, Michael was looking just as prepared, clenching his fists.

A second later, Max felt like a complete idiot, when the boy in front yelled out, "Yo, Whitman; what's up, man? Haven't seen you around the volunteer unit lately? Too busy with school, babes and what not?"

He felt Michael briefly touch his own clenched fists and heard his mental voice inside his mind, ´We really need to remember that we're not in the middle of a war yet; don't think Roswell is ready for a couple of aliens with post traumatic stress disorder.´

Despite himself, Max couldn't help but smirk a bit at the sarcasm and forcibly shook off his initial reaction to the strangers.

The three guys were running up to them and a few of them slapped Alex on the back in greeting. "Look man, we kindda need your help today; one of the regulars called in sick. You in?"

Alex looked decidedly uncomfortable as he glanced back at them and Max had to admit he was confused. It was Maria, who ended the confusion in her own unique way, "Don't worry about me, Alex, go be a clown in the children's ward; I promise I won't sneak back in and take pictures."

Alex nodded, shrugged off his obvious embarrassment and followed some of his fellow volunteers after giving Maria a quick hug.

"I never knew Alex worked as a volunteer," Michael said as they started for the car again. Max nodded mutely, he too had never known that particular thing about his friend.

Maria, still looking tired and dazed after her ordeal, let loose a girlish giggle. "Well, you weren't supposed to know. Only me and Liz do. He swore us to secrecy under the Best Friend clause when he started last year. Can we just head home, I'm beat."

It seemed as though in her exhaustion Maria had forgotten about Max's promise and he had to resist the urge to not keep it; but as he got in the car and started the engine, he already knew that he would tell her everything. Well, he amended silently, everything except the time travelling business; I haven't even told Liz that…

They'd been driving for a few minutes, when Max decided that they were in the most private place he could think off; in the outskirts of town where there wasn't a lot of traffic. He sighed heavily and pulled over. After one long second, he turned to face Maria, who was once again, shielded by Michael.

"Maria," Max began, "I'm ready to keep my promise now."

"Max, let me do it, okay?" Michael interrupted with an almost pleading glint in his eyes and not for the first time, Max was reminded of the fact that his second in command had changed just as much as he himself had. There had been a time where Michael would simply demand to do certain things, not caring about Max's orders or the bigger picture. Now, Michael was truly his second; he never disrespected Max's authority anymore, and therefore Max knew that Michael wouldn't go to pieces because of what was about to happen.

"Michael, I'll prefer to do it. I promise, I'll get her right back to you."

Maria looked between them, obviously confused, but still too shocked to really take it in and Max needed to talk to her before she started to panic again. An old memory of a giggling Liz telling him just how Maria had reacted discovering their secret originally surfaced and he banished it with an internal wistful smile. Well, that definitely won't happen again, she's already more comfortable around us than in the original timeline.

Five minutes later, the near abandoned road echoed with a piercing scream and a frantic looking Maria Deluca pushed by Max and stormed out of the jeep, waving her uninjured arm at the very few other vehicles on the road, obviously begging for a ride.

"That's why I should have talked to her," Michael stated somberly, getting out of the car in a more sedate pace, his eyes following Maria closely, "despite the fact that you were best friends, I know my wife and really saw this coming a mile away."

Max gritted his teeth and gestured out on the road where Maria was still running and screaming. "Be my guest, try to calm her down." Oh, Liz, what I wouldn't give for your calm right now…

Liz's POV

"Liz, calm down!" Mr. Parker's voice reached Liz as his hand landed firmly on hers, stopping her from wiping the already clean counter yet again. "I haven't seen you this jumpy since we found that spider in your bathroom."

Liz forced a smile, and walked over to the kitchen, eager to collect an order and keep her mind busy. She couldn't stop thinking about the shocked expression on Maria's face just after she'd been injured and on top of that, her eyes kept drifting over to Isabel, who was looking as though she'd been born for the waitress job.

As Jose handed Liz a freshly made plate of curly fries, she walked past Isabel and couldn't help but tense her entire body in the process. I can't believe I'm suddenly so uncomfortable around her, Liz thought, trying to calm down, she's Max's sister and they have never done anything to harm me…why is she scaring me now all of the sudden?

She remembered the kind way Isabel had looked at her the other day, how she seemed uncharacteristically eager to form some kind of bond between the two of them. Maybe she knew that Max was gonna tell me everything and wanted to make sure I would at least see her good side?

Apparently Liz's stiff posture didn't go unnoticed by the tall blonde, who glanced in Liz's direction and for one short moment, Liz could have sworn that Isabel looked hurt. Why is she hurt? I barely know her.

The latest rush of customers over with, Liz decided to go outside for a little break; she was almost done for the day, but she had a sudden need to go outside for a few minutes. As she walked through the backroom and out the back door, Liz wasn't surprised to see Isabel following her.

"Hey Liz," Isabel greeted her with a small smile, pulling off the antennas with a relieved sigh. "I forgot how hard this job can be."

Liz nodded, but didn't say anything; truthfully she didn't know what to say. Having known Isabel since childhood as this cool popular supermodel wannabe and then finding out she was not only sort of nice, she was an alien, it was kindda hard to make small talk.

"Liz, don't take this the wrong way," Isabel said after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. "But I don't bite and I'm not your enemy, so please stop looking at me like I just killed your puppy or I might have to hurt you."

Liz's heart rate immediately accelerated hearing the last few words, but she calmed down when Isabel smiled once more. "Just kidding; but I'd really like it if we could be friends."

"Because I know about you?" Liz couldn't help but ask. To her surprise, Isabel's face clearly showed the hurt she felt this time and didn't bother covering it up.

"No, because I've known you for a long time and genuinely want to be your friend. I can't believe you'd think that about me. I might be a Czechoslovakian, but-"

"Wait," Liz held up a hand, "Czechoslovakian? Really, who came up with that lame name?"

Isabel grinned, looking her age for once in Liz's opinion, "Well, you kind of had to be there…" Liz mentally rolled her eyes, but listened silently as Isabel continued softly, "Like I said; I might be…you know, but I'm also very human and have been for all my life, and I want you as a friend. I know I might not have acted like it growing up, but Max isn't the only Evans you could form some kind of relationship with."

She looks like my friendship means the world to her, Liz thought, eying the beautiful teen closely, she's never looked so vulnerable before; like I'm important to her all of the sudden. I've already given Max a chance; I should do the same with her.

"Okay," Liz eventually decided and straightened up, "I'm a rational human being, no pun intended, and I'll be logical about this and I know you've never hurt me before and won't do it now, so," she slowly reached out her hand and waited for Isabel to grab it. "I'll be your friend, Isabel Evans."

The smile Isabel sent her lit up her entire face and Liz couldn't even begin to regret her decision, seeing the blatant joy on the other girl's face.

Later that night, Liz was just getting out of the shower when her door was slammed open and Maria stormed in, looking as though she wanted nothing more but to kill the first person she met.

"Maria? Hey, are you okay?"

"Don't you dare ask me if I'm okay, Parker," Maria sneered, banging the door closed behind her, "I'm so far from okay, it's completely not okay to ask me that! Okay?"

"Okay," Liz answered slowly, toweling her hair, but she forgot all about that when Maria spoke again. "So I had a nice little chat with your out of town friends today."

Liz gently sat down on her bed, folding her now wet towel into a cube. She bit her lip and didn't look up at her best friend. "Oh?"

"Yep," Maria's voice was dripping with mockery, "oh. So, why haven't you, who're supposed to be my best friend in the whole wide world, told me anything? I could have helped you, we could've…I don't know, called the feds, the men in black or whatever to help us before it's too late."

Liz quirked a brow and finally looked up, "too late for what, exactly?"

"You know, before they like finish making us into their slaves or…or before they start sucking out our brains? Hello, aliens!"

"Czechoslovakians," Liz muttered, thinking of the exposed look in Isabel's eyes earlier. "I think they'd prefer if we didn't go around Roswell, New Mexico screaming about aliens."

Maria plumbed down on the bed next to her, "I'm sorry Liz, but how is it you're not freaking out right now? Granted, you've been all weird lately but there's been no freaking out on your part. I on the other hand ran screaming from Max's jeep and didn't stop until Mic-Guerin forced me to calm down. Of course," Maria continued with an almost sheepish looking shrug, "I kicked him in place where one shouldn't kick a boy and ran off regardless, but that's beside the point."

"The point is?" Liz asked and fell back on the bed with a plumb.

Maria followed suit with a heavy sigh. "The point being, you're not freaking out like a normal teenage girl!"

Liz couldn't help but grin at that, and seeing the slightly offended look, Maria sent her, she quickly elaborated, "Maria, I'm sorry I'm not acting like you, Roswell's drama queen, but I promise you that I've been freaking out big time. I've wanted to call you so many times, but I didn't know how to start that particular conversation and then there was this whole internal fear about, what if the phone's were tapped and I'd unknowingly send some kind of alien hunter on him…I mean, them."

Maria frowned and rubbed her bandaged hand for a long second. "What are we gonna do, Liz? I don't know what to do; all I want is to run away for a while and come back when they've phoned home and been picked up or something like that. But then…"

Liz turned sideways, propping her head on her hand as she watched Maria seriously, "but what?"

Maria sighed again, smiling a bit at herself, "but then there's this weird feeling that if I did do that, I'd be betraying them. It's like I've somehow connected with them lately without really realizing it. It's weird, especially with Guerin. Whenever I used to look at him, I was slightly creeped out. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm still creeped out, but there's something about him that I just…"

"Like he's supposed to be by your side, right?" Liz added and Maria nodded mutely and Liz continued softly, "I know the feeling. I've been scared and slightly stunned ever since the shooting, but whenever I'm close to Max it all just seems to slip away into nothingness. I never felt that way around Kyle, that's for sure."

Maria grinned. "Well, he's a poodle; Max is like a rare wolfhound or something. I get it. But boy talk aside, I really need you to tell me what to do, because I don't think I can act completely sane around them right now. Especially Isabel, she gives me that heeby jeebies."

"Isabel isn't so bad," Liz defended, but gave up when Maria simply glared at her in disbelief. "Okay, moving on, here's what I've decided to do."

Maria sat up, looking more eager to follow orders than Liz had ever seen the temperamental blonde, "Go on, Parker." She gestured with her uninjured hand.

"Tomorrow, we go to school like always and," Liz waited a second before continuing quickly, "and act like nothing is wrong. Simple as that; no drama or fuss."

Maria crossed her arms, "I'll try, but if I wind up being enslaved to an alien race, you're so gonna do my homework for the rest of the year."

Liz punched Maria lightly in the shoulder, happy that her friend was at least trying to calm down for once. "Deal. Now go home and I'll see you in school first thing tomorrow."

After Maria had left, Liz was laying awake thinking about everything she'd learned lately. With a huff, she gave up on sleep and took out her journal, writing everything down as she'd done ever since she'd learned to write. It was a great way to clear her mind, and had helped to control her freak out a bit.

An hour later, Liz closed her journal with an exhausted sigh and snuggled deep under the blankets. She thought about Max's relieved smile the day he'd told her about his origins and couldn't help but smile. She suddenly felt an unexpected warmth in her belly and placed her hand on it. If she'd been asked to describe the unusual feeling, Liz would have said that it felt like love; love was somehow enveloping her and calming her down enough to finally fall asleep.

Fortunately for Liz, no one was begging for a description and she fell asleep with a peaceful smile on her lips, with her hands gently placed around her navel area, while a voice that was eerily familiar sounded in her mind, `sleep well, my love.´

Michael's POV

The alarm clock rang, jolting him out of a nightmare that was a memory he had no intention of ever revisiting again. The day he'd buried Maria with his bare hands. Seeing her bloody and shocked the day before had obviously triggered some pretty horrifying feelings in his chest and even though everything had been fixed at the hospital and with a little of Max's special touch, Michael hadn't been able to shake off the nightmares.

He sat up from his small bed, rubbing his eyes with a big yawn. A quick peek through the door, revealed an unconscious Hank on the recliner with the TV running and a beer can in his hand. Opting to not risk waking the drunk, Michael simply waved his hand around his body, using his ability to manipulate molecules to change his appearance into something resembling a cleaned teenager.

Ten minutes later, Michael exited the trailer with his worn book bag slung carelessly over his shoulder. He was munching contentedly on a donut that had probably seen better days, but considering Michael's upbringing, he could eat anything that didn't have mold on it. And if it did, I'd just make it go away, he thought to himself in a rare moment of satisfaction, popping the last bite into his mouth.

Michael ignored the few other kids from the trailer park, who, like him, was making their way up to the main road to catch the school bus. He'd never had any kind of relationship with them when he'd been an actual teenager and he sure as hell wasn't about to form any now.

Only a few minutes after he'd arrived at the bus stop, the old school bus rumbled into view, stopping abruptly in front of him. Michael got on, wishing the whole iPod thing was around, when people started chatting and genuinely annoying him and his peace and quiet.

When he arrived at the high school, Michael unceremoniously pushed his way through his fellow students, making sure to be one of the first ones off the yellow monstrosity.

Max showed up next to him as soon as he set foot on the ground, "'Morning Michael. Is my healing still in effect?"

Completely unlike him, Max was smirking devilishly with a teasing glint in his dark brown eyes. Michael on the other hand, had to use all his military training not to blush like a shy virgin. Just the mention of that pain, brought a flare of phantom pains to his groin, where Maria so mercilessly had kicked him yesterday before fleeing as though she had the Devil on her heels.

"Not funny, Maxwell," Michael opted to state when he felt in control again, "I'd managed to block that particular incident. Now, stop talking about it before I remind you of your bachelor party."

Max's smirking face instantly went blank and Michael cursed himself. "Sorry man, I didn't mean to…"

"Don't worry about it, Michael. I just haven't thought about those times in a while. Being back here isn't making it easier. Now, let's get to class; according to Iz, it's Geometry today, maybe you can change your standard F's into A's just to shake things up."

Michael snorted and followed his king inside the high school. Still unable to keep his combat training at bay, his eyes tracked every movement on their way, ready for anything at a moment's notice.

"Loosen up," Max cautioned as they slipped into the classroom where Michael's eyes instinctively sought out Maria, who was sitting next to Liz, eying Isabel with nothing short of fear in her eyes. As the two hybrids sat down and Michael tried not to think of a way to somehow make Maria not fear them, Max continued with a rare smile on his face, "It's just math class, how bad can it be?"

A moment later, Michael forgot everything about his calm, all his thoughts about Maria's fear flew to the back of his mind, because in that moment his eyes landed on a sight he really hadn't expected to see ever again; especially since they were supposed to have stopped this from happening this time around.

Next to him, Max's face transformed into the deadly mask of his warrior king, and Michael had trouble concentrating enough to look even remotely boyish. Isabel's gasp behind him, alerted him to the fact that she too, wasn't doing a good job in acting clueless.

Well, that's understandable, Michael amended, trying to unclench his fists and not lose control of his powers, so he didn't accidentally commit murder in broad daylight.

"Hi. I'm Kathleen Topolsky. I'll be substituting for Mr. Singer who's out sick for a couple of days." Her eyes portrayed only kindness and eagerness to get along with everybody, showing nothing of the F.B.I agent that she truly was.

Liz's POV

Okay, what is going on? Liz's intelligent eyes were darting from the unexpected substitute teacher with the kind smile, to the small trio of aliens that she'd slowly come to care about. The minute she walked in, the entire atmosphere darkened in here and…

Liz looked down at her left hand, which was covering her stomach. The thing that confused and worried her the most was the fact that the odd pull just above her navel had started burning, and in some way she just knew that someone was seriously angry. And another quick glance over to the side later, Liz just knew that she was somehow feeling Max's anger.

What is going on? Why am I feeling his emotions? Is this some kind of residue from the healing? I have to ask him later, wha-

Liz was interrupted in her chaotic thoughts by Maria, who leaned closer and whispered, "I'm very close to turning into my dramatic alter ego right now, Liz. Please tell me, why my stomach and chest are aching and why I just know that it has something to do with Guerin?"

Okay, so it hasn't got anything to do with the healing, Liz thought, while shrugging minutely to Maria to let her know that she wasn't the only one completely confused.

While she'd been consumed by thoughts, Topolsky started taking attendance. A fact that irked Liz, she turned minutely to Maria, "which teacher takes attendance?"

"I'm sorry, are you in the middle of something," Topolsky's light voice asked, she looked down at the papers in her hand, "Miss Parker? If not, I'd appreciate it if you'd concentrate until the bell rings, okay?"

The burning inside her turned outright painful, and Liz barely managed to swallow a gasp. She nodded quietly and as Topolsky continued on, Liz sought out Max. When she saw him, she couldn't quite stop from making a sound of surprise.

He was looking absolutely livid. Why? Liz wondered, rubbing her belly furiously in an attempt to lessen the burning. She just talked to me; it shouldn't be such a big deal. He looks ready to kill, right now he really resembles one of those evil alien types that Maria is afraid off. I wish I could somehow calm him down…

One breath later, Liz suddenly remembered how she'd been feeling warmed up from the inside the night before in her bed; like she was loved and cherished. Maybe he had a way of somehow knowing I was feeling restless. Maybe he can feel me just as clearly as I can feel him…Is this some kind of alien power he didn't tell me about? Wait, this has got to mean that I can push my feelings back at him.

Having come up with a tentative plan, Liz leaned her head forward, shielding her face with her dark locks as she closed her eyes tightly, trying with all her might to feel composed and using that to send it through to the still mentally raging Max. Relax Max; she thought out to him, hoping despite the fact that she was a firm believer of science, not science fiction, that she would somehow reach him. It's okay now, just relax…

Bit by bit the burning subsided and Liz breathed a sigh of relief when it finally turned into something that reminded her of embarrassment of all things. She chanced a quick look over at Max, nearly flinching when she locked eyes with the boy.

He wasn't looking angry anymore, more like relieved and tired. His usually tanned skin still had a pale taint to it, but it was getting better. He seems like he's seen a ghost, Liz thought and broke the stare when Maria whispered her name.

"Liz, I think I'm coming down with something dangerous. My stomach really hurts, it's burning. Can you take me to the school nurse, maybe a few painkillers will take the edge off until he gets himself under control again?"

Liz shook her head and bent over to write a note to Maria on her notepad. Just try to relax and try to calm yourself, it should do the trick.

Maria raised a brow in question, but a moment later, when the lecturing Topolsky wasn't looking, she snuck a sniff of one of her calming draughts and closed her eyes. Liz didn't notice; her eyes were trained on Michael. Like Max, he had been looking extremely angry, shocked and above all things petrified, ever since the teacher had entered the room. But now, just as she'd suspected, he was calming down and sending long looks over at the still Maria.

Well, isn't this interesting? Liz thought and turned towards the black board to at least act as though she was paying attention to Topolsky. I think there's a few things you haven't told me Max Evans, but rest assured that I'm gonna find out what they are.

When the class ended, Liz grabbed hold of Maria and stated, when the blonde asked in confusion what they were doing, that they were in fact stalking three Czechoslovakians. Obviously Isabel's nickname had stuck, much to Liz's internal chagrin.

To her annoyance, they lost sight of the trio when the other students began flooding out in the halls, blocking their view. It took her a few minutes, but eventually she spotted them. She just caught the sight of Isabel's long frame as she closed the door to the eraser room behind her.

"Come on, Maria, we have to figure out what's going on."

"Liz," Maria panted as she was dragged behind Liz ruthlessly, "I hate to say this, but you're acting a lot like me right now and it's not exactly comforting, you know."

"Shh," Liz hissed and leaned her ear up against the closed door. She only managed to catch a few words, like, "Not supposed…" "…hunt us…" "…change things this time…", "… used our bond."

"What are they saying?" Maria whispered loudly next to her and Liz flinched in surprise, banging her head into the wooden door, instantly quieting the conversation inside the small room.

"Maria," Liz said the name through clenched teeth and quickly dragged her apologetic friend over to the nearest corner to hide. "Did you hear anything?" she asked, when she realized they weren't being followed.

"Not much," Maria answered, rubbing the wrist that Liz had grabbed. "Why are we being so sneaky all of the sudden?"

Liz rubbed her eyes and sighed. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I guess I just wanted to know what was going on with them; I mean, didn't you see them when the teacher walked in? I almost felt like I had to hide before they took out a gun or something."

Maria chuckled, "and you call me the dramatic one. Look, maybe they just really like Mr. Singer; ever thought of that?"

"Oh, come Maria, like I said earlier; what kind of teacher-"

"Takes attendance?" The unexpected voice startled the two friends. Maria actually let out an undignified shriek when the speaker interrupted them. The shriek abruptly died, when she realized that Max and the two other aliens were standing just behind them.

Liz tried to smile, ignoring the usual flutter she felt in her chest whenever Max was near her. "Hi, guys. Interesting class today, huh? I really learned a lot about triangles. Didn't you learn a lot about triangles, Maria?"

Maria didn't answer; she seemed too busy staring deeply into Michael's eyes. Liz nudged her back to reality and she quickly murmured an agreement.

Max's face softened and for the briefest of moments, Liz felt more loved than anything she'd ever experienced before, but then it was gone. "So, I take it that you noticed our less than enthusiastic behavior towards Topolsky." He stated after a tense second.

Liz nodded, "yeah; are you all right? You looked like she was the Devil incarnate. Is she …you know," Liz looked around her and muttered, "An evil Czechoslovakian?"

Isabel laughed out loud at the look of surprise on Max's face and smiled widely, looking a lot more relaxed than she'd been during class. "It's a long story, Liz, but let's just say that we've heard of her. She's a special kind of guidance counselor…Uhm…"

Michael, unexpectedly took over when Isabel seemed to hesitate, "She's a quack; eager to find the dirt about everyone and good at it too, so don't trust her despite her kind appearance. You should know that that kind of thing can be deceiving after all."

"Yeah," Maria sent a mild glower at him, seeming to momentarily forget her fears as she stepped closer to Liz, "we know all about that, don't we?"

Liz barely heard her, she was too busy looking into Max's eyes, again she was having this weird feeling inside her; she just knew he wasn't being entirely truthful towards her. Special guidance counselor? What aren't you telling me, Max? You can trust me, please tell me.

"We just heard that she's a bit too nosy for her job. We do trust you not to take your knowledge further, but she might be cleverer than you think, so please just be careful, okay?" Max said and with one last look, he turned around and walked to the next class.

As they drifted away, Liz heard Isabel say with an obviously forced tone of cheer in her voice, "that went well; now we only need to suffer through her visiting Hank and our day will be complete."

Maria slipped her arm around Liz's shoulder and exhaled deeply, "now, I might not be the smart one of us, but even I know they're not being completely open with us."

Liz nodded with a small, sad smile. The smile vanished when Maria quickly continued, "And now I think it's time we bring Alex up to speed."

Liz shook her head vehemently, "no way; we can't go telling everyone. It's not our secret to tell."

Maria nearly whined, "But I need him. I'm just so close to snapping right now, it's not even funny. I'm probably infected with some weird Czechoslovakian disease, 'cause my insides are acting all strange lately and Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome only has to look at you once, before you turn into goo. We need Alex."

"You got a point," Liz agreed, but added seriously when Maria's eyes lit up, "but are you really willing to bring him into this mess? It's so beyond confusion and we've obviously just begun to scratch the surface."

Maria pouted, but nodded her head a moment later. "I guess so, but we can't keep him in the dark forever, he's too observant for that."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Liz sighed and started making her way to her next class, followed by Maria, who was roaming through her backpack, and muttering something about upping the dosage on her drops if things kept going this way for her.

Topolsky's POV

She entered her new office, let go off all her files and sat down in her admittedly comfortable chair. She eyed her files for a bit and then took out five from the bunch. Then she grabbed the phone and waited for it to take her straight through to her superior.

"Hello agent Pierce, I'm in, and I've made first contact with the suspects, although, I have to add two more to the ones that the sheriff mentioned."

Kathleen glanced down at the two pictures in front of her and answered firmly, "Liz Parker and Maria Deluca. I suspect that their involvement might be more detailed than originally suspected. I will Sir; I'll let you know more in my report by the end of the week when I've had a chance to observe them a bit more."

There was a brief silence, before Kathleen spoke again. "I won't let you down, Sir. I will make sure they are in your hands as soon as possible. We just need the final bit of proof."

Kathleen ended the call and leaned back in her chair, eying the images of Max, Michael, Isabel, Maria and Liz in front of her with a smile that no longer seemed kind and inviting, but dangerous and sinister.

TBC…

 

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	7. Max, Alex, Isabel,Max, Maria and Nasedo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would really like to know whether or not I am wasting my time posting here or should just keep it on ff.net ;)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Max's POV

They were stumbling along, both of them spent, exhausted and wounded in more places than one. Suddenly he felt her trip forward a bit too roughly for him to prevent and they both tumbled to their knees.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, an ominous looking blood trail falling from her mouth, "just leave me and get out before it's too late."

Noises from behind them were getting closer and there wasn't a doubt in either of their minds that death was coming for them. "No," he said, stubborn to the end. "We're gonna be okay; I'll think of something."

Her kind, yet old, eyes landed on him and for a brief moment she looked like the very young woman she was, and not one of his closest friends and more importantly, the girl, whose knowledge had helped them take down Khivar's second in command just mere thirty minutes ago. "It's no use…Liz wouldn't have wanted this, she would have wanted you to come back; they all would…Just, please, Max."

Max swallowed, ignoring the excruciating pain in his own limbs, "Forget it, I'll try to heal you again, this little break might have helped me." He held out a trembling, bloody hand and from it a slight glow started to come forth, but before he could use his powers, the glow fluttered and went away like a candle blown out by a gust of wind.

She smiled sadly, "It's no use, Max – you've used the last of your resources fighting Caden, while I took care of Caden's men."

The noise level grew louder and they heard footsteps. She blinked and suddenly got a very determined look in her eyes, "I'm not sorry for any of this, Max – Please don't be sorry. I'm grateful for the chance to know you and having you heal me that time. It was an honor to serve you, my King."

Max never saw it coming; suddenly she launched to her feet and started running towards their roaring pursuers, who'd been just about to reach them, "I'll kill you all, you sons of bitches!"

A moment later, there was a loud, deafening boom, from the one grenade they hadn't used and Max flew backwards several feet. Blood spattering his face and pieces of something and someone was all around him, but Max didn't notice at the time, his entire being was consumed with grief over losing the last of his precious, human loved ones.

"SERENA!"

"No!" His eyes opened with an almost audible snap and he sat up, gasping from the emotional turmoil his nightmare had brought to the forefront of his mind. Absentmindedly, Max realized that once again, his control was waving when he spotted his entire bed was trembling approximately one foot above the floor.

With an effortlessness that could only come from vast amounts of practice, Max took a deep breath and regained control of himself. The bed gently settled down on the floor and the trembling around him came to an abrupt halt.

A few minutes later, Max exited his room and walked down to the kitchen, where he could hear Isabel and his mother chatting amiably. It was still a very surreal experience being around his mother in his sixteen year old body.

"…going away for a business trip, so you better be ready to see some home movies soon," his adopted mother warned Isabel with a happy smile on her face, just as he entered the kitchen. "Oh, good morning, honey."

A second later, the happiness dimmed a bit and she looked at him with a bit more seriousness in her eyes, "did you sleep okay?"

Isabel was eying him with too much interest and knowledge as well, but Max simply shrugged it off, muttering something about a bad dream as he reached over and took a plate, filling it up with a huge amount of chocolate chip pancakes. Inwardly he briefly lamented the lack of Tabasco sauce, but it didn't stop him from giving a rare smile of satisfaction at the first bite.

Dianne was smiling at his palpable contentment, before turning her attention back on her daughter, "Anyway, like I was saying; I'm not looking forward to spending my next four evenings alone, so you better help me occupy my time. I'm not seeing enough of you lately; either of you. Whatever it is you're spending all your time with Michael for, it can't be more important than your mother."

The royal siblings shared a brief look, but simply shrugged with a smile. Dianne rolled her eyes at their obvious dismissal and kept talking.

A few minutes later, Max breathed a sigh of relief when the phone rang, momentarily putting a stop to his mother's renewed, not too subtle attempt at coaxing out the story of his nightmare. When Dianne walked into the living room to gossip with one of her girlfriends, Max decided to ask about something that had been bothering him. Inwardly he knew that his rough night was a contributing factor to his sudden quest for information, he was eager to think about something else than what he'd experienced in his other lifetime.

He slowly turned to Isabel with a serious look in his dark eyes.

She blinked and raised a brow in question when he didn't say anything right away. Max remained silent, and she sat down her coffee cup and asked with a defensive tone in her voice, "What?"

Max glanced once behind him, making absolutely sure that Dianne wasn't about to walk in on them. "What's going on with you and Alex?"

Instantly, Isabel lost her haughty expression and looked down at the table. Her cheeks slowly, but unmistakably, turned a dark shade of crimson. "What about me and Alex?"

"Why is it that he's been looking oddly confused lately and whenever I've been looking at him, he's been rubbing his stomach?"

"Maybe he's got a mosquito bite, ever think of that? It could be serious, infected even."

Copying his sister's earlier movement, Max raised an eyebrow and didn't say anything to that absurd suggestion.

Isabel sighed in defeat a few seconds later, "I don't know what happened, honestly. I was just dreamwalking and then…I don't know."

Max frowned, his interest piqued, he leaned forward. "Dreamwalking? Did anything happen?"

"I might have kissed him." Isabel confessed, quickly adding before Max could get a word in, "and then there was this warm sensation in my whole body and light and…"she trailed off and then looked at him with wide, accusing eyes, "You didn't tell me that happened with you and Liz. Michael didn't either for that matter. Do you think it's the bond? And why didn't I ever have that with Jesse? I mean, I did marry him and I loved him, so…"

Max got up, walked over to the cabinet and took out an already opened bottle of Tabasco sauce. Only after he'd drippled a fair amount on their plates, and had put it back in its place, did he speak again. "I honestly don't know how it happened, Isabel, but I'm positive that you've created a bond with him somehow. If you're starting to feel emotions that aren't yours then you'll know for sure."

Isabel looked thoughtful, chewing a bite of her now perfectly seasoned meal, "Now that you mention it, I have been feeling a bit weird for a little while. But still, why didn't I have the bond with Jesse? I always wondered, but didn't wanna bring it up after Liz and Maria died."

Max forced himself not to react at the mention of that horrible day when he'd cradled Liz's lifeless body in his arms, and tried to think about what his sister was asking. "I think the reason you never bonded with Jesse was because you were already in a bonded relationship with Alex."

"What? No, I wasn't." Isabel argued and Max tried to explain.

"You once told me that you saw Alex after his death; could feel him as though he was next to you, right? I think that you were starting the bond around the time he died. I mean, Michael and I didn't know about our bonding until after we left Roswell, and S-Serena mentioned something about our," he looked around again to make sure they weren't being overheard, "alien side having to grow up and acknowledge our mates, but you've always been more mature than Michael and me, so I'm actually not surprised that you started to bond with your soulmate before we even left Roswell."

Isabel looked completely gobsmacked. That's roughly how I looked when I first discovered the complexities of the bond. I'd probably still be thoroughly confused if Serena hadn't sorted it out for me.

Max froze internally, Serena's last scream of defiance still very vivid in his mind. "What's wrong, Max?" Isabel had finally gotten over her surprise.

"Nothing," he muttered and got up to rinse his plate. "I'm going for a run." Why is it that I have barely thought about her since waking up here, and now she's in my head all the time?

"Max," his sister's solemn tone, made him pause and he looked up from where he was crouching to put on his running shoes. She was looking at him with a mixture of sadness and exasperation. "Please don't shut me out. We need to stand together this time from the beginning. Whatever it is, I'll handle it."

Max sighed and straightened up. He walked over to Isabel and gently placed his hand on her warm cheek. 'I'm sorry, Iz. I just dreamt about Serena tonight, I guess I've been focusing so much on getting back to Liz that my conscience wanted to remind me what I have to prevent this time around.'

He showed her his dream in flashes and Isabel nodded gravely with a small glint of guilt in her eyes. Apparently she too had been focused on finding her lost love and not much else since returning. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

Max ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Yeah, me too. I still have to get used to the whole idea about not keeping things bottled up. Usually Liz was the only one, who could make me see sense and now with the whole Topolsky thing-"

"Who's Topolsky?"

Dianne's cheerful voice snapped the two hybrids from their serious conversation and they turned to their mother. "No one." They said in unison and a few minutes later, Dianne watched in confused amusement as her children literally ran out the door for a jog.

Alex's POV

He awoke with a start, gasping for air, frantically clutching his stomach. Glancing down with a frown, Alex sighed. That makes it the third time I've woken up like this; this is getting ridiculous.

Ever since that strange dream where he'd kissed Isabel Evans, he'd been walking around with an odd feeling inside. His stomach kept itching at the most inopportune moments and he was really getting sick of it. The only time the sensation seemed to calm was, ironically enough, whenever he was within viewing distance of Isabel.

Deciding to stop thinking about the girl of his dreams (literally), Alex sighed and got ready for the new day. His focus slipped from Isabel to a new problem, two problems in fact. Liz and Maria were hiding something from him. A lot could be said about Alex, but he wasn't unobservant.

Liz had been acting strange ever since the shooting at the diner and Maria had developed a weird looking tic whenever he came near them. She acted like she did when they were kids and she was trying her hardest to act casual while keeping secrets from him.

Like then, it wasn't really working out for her this time around and Alex was getting mighty sick of all the stopped sentences and guilty glances whenever he was around either of them. And then there was the whole thing with Max and Michael.

The two boys had stuck around him like glue ever since the gym incident; they were complete mysteries and for some weird reason they seemed to want to hang out with him. For a boy, whose only real friends had always been girls, this was a new phenomenon.

And then there's the whole thing about them staring at me whenever they think I'm not looking. It's creeping me out. Alex finished his last spoonful of soggy cereal and sighed. Maybe Maria was right; they're on to something, worming their way in somehow…but for what reason?

Alex shook off his dark thoughts and with renewed determination; he left the house and made his way to the Crashdown, knowing that his two best friends were working the morning shift. I won't move until they've talked to me, the tall teenager swore to himself.

Alex was distracted halfway to his goal by a sight that made him eternally grateful for having put on some loose pants. Isabel Evans was running towards him, wearing a tight black top and some sweatpants. She was jogging next to her brother. To Alex's mild envy they looked like they could keep going forever, like they were made for it.

A moment later, Isabel spotted him and started running a little faster towards him. Alex's heart rate increased and he remembered his dream, where Isabel had said so softly, "I'm not inapproachable, you can talk to me and I swear I won't turn you down."

"Good morning, Alex," Isabel's voice brought him back to the present and he looked into her beautiful eyes and felt a peculiar lurch just above his navel. Excitement that didn't seem to actually come from him, but the emotion matched his own enough so he quickly forgot about it.

"Hi, Isabel." He was proud that he didn't stutter. His eyes slid over to the silently watching Max. He really does looks way too old to be a teenager, Alex thought, unconsciously taking a small step backwards as his instincts acknowledged that the male before him was stronger.

"So," Isabel didn't seem to notice Alex's discomfort, "I'm just out running with my brother."

"Yeah," Alex smiled, "I kindda noticed that."

Isabel had a brief look of mortification on her face, before she realized that he wasn't mocking her for stating the obvious. She sent him a wide smile. "I was wondering if you'd like to meet at the Crashdown for some early lunch later?"

Max coughed and stepped a few steps away, evidently willing to give them their privacy. Something Alex was grateful for, although he was now sort of friends with the quiet Evans, it wasn't a secret that he was extremely close to his sister and thus very protective.

"Sure, I'm just on my way there, actually." Alex finally replied when Isabel seemed to get a bit worried about his lack of answer. He was rewarded with another big smile that lit up her entire face. Alex practically drooled at the sight. Is she interested in me? Alex Whitman, the King of dorks in Roswell?

"Well, I'll just run home and take a shower," Isabel stated, "I'll meet you there in an hour or so, okay?"

When Alex nodded, a bit distracted by the doubled feeling of jubilant joy in his belly, Isabel caught Max's eye and they hurried onwards in the direction of their house.

As Alex walked the rest of the way to the Crashdown, his determination to question his friends were put in the back of his mind, he was much more interested in asking them for advice in how to act around the stunning girl that was Isabel Evans.

When he stepped into the Crashdown, the familiar smell only heightened his mood. There was just something about the smell of fried foods that spoke to him. His eyes immediately landed on Liz, who was leaning on the counter, looking bored out of her mind. Maria stood next to her, looking, if possible, even more bored.

Alex could understand that, the diner was practically empty. "Hey Liz, hey Maria" he waved at them. They actually flinched in chorus at his greeting and Alex frowned. And we're back to the reason I wanted to go here…

With a deep sigh, Alex strode up to the two young women, placing himself on one of the stools. "So," he began, casually looking through the menu he knew by heart already, "what's up?"

Maria shrugged and started wiping the counter. Liz busied herself by filling the salt shakers, not looking at him as she answered, "not much, you?"

Deciding not to pressure them right now, Alex smiled happily, "Well, I think I've got a lunch date with Isabel."

The salt shaker in Liz's hand slipped from her grasp, and fell to the floor and shattered. Liz didn't care apparently, she simply continued looking at him with big eyes. "Isabel as in Isabel Evans? What? Tell me everything?" Maria stood frozen with her mouth opened in disbelief, obviously just as curious and dumbfounded as Liz.

For just one little moment, Alex felt the wall they'd raised between them crumple to the ground in their eagerness and he quickly dove into his tale about how the magnificent Isabel had actually been the one to ask him and not the other way around. The three of them were so busy talking that neither of them noticed that they were all gently rubbing their stomachs.

Isabel's POV

Today has been a great day, Isabel decided as she sat quietly next to a pensive Max. In the backseat, Michael was eying the landscape with an equally thoughtful look on his face. Isabel knew that she should try and be a bit more serious too, usually it was something she excelled at; her nickname in the war had been Ice Queen after all, but after the day she'd had, Isabel wasn't really in the mood to go to the desert to try and come up with some plans for avoiding the F.B.I or anything alien related.

Realizing that the two other hybrids were not willing to listen to her babble about what a wonderful time she'd had with her lost love, Isabel leaned her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes with a contented sigh.

The way Alex's face had brightened when she walked into the diner caused her insides to tingle; his shy grins whenever he was joking and realized that she in fact understood and liked his humor. The best part, Isabel thought with another unusually happy sigh, had to be when I kissed his cheek before I left. His whole face turned red, it was so adorable.

As Max drove them to their destination, Isabel refused to remember the last time she'd been here. She really didn't want to remember Khivar's furious expression as they closed the path into the cave with their powers, how he swore to kill them and especially her, his old lover, slowly and painfully.

Isabel shook her head, trying to let go of the hated memories that just seemed to slip in regardless of her struggles. Alex, think of Alex and his goofy smile; his warm eyes and the fact that you finally have a bond with someone!

Her mood restored, Isabel followed her family out the jeep and walked next to them as they made their way to the hidden cave that concealed the granolith. She looked over at Michael, curious to see how he was taking being back in a place where they had so many nightmarish memories. He was looking pale, but his jaw was clenched and he was clearly not going to let their bloody past overwhelm him. Good, she thought proudly.

Isabel smiled a small smile before looking over at her brother; her smile froze on her face and her steps faltered a bit. The Max Evans she'd been seeing ever since returning to the past, the Max Evans who'd tried his best to fit in as a sixteen year old again, was no more. His face was a blank mask, the same emptiness that he'd shown ever since Liz's death was back. This was the face of her King. Not good, Isabel thought with a frown.

"Max?"

Michael seemed to notice the same thing as she did and shook off his own gloom and walked up right next to Max, who was looking at Isabel with a raised brow, just like he'd done this morning. Only that time it didn't scare me like it does now…

"Yes, Isabel?" He asked when she didn't speak after saying his name.

Isabel hesitated, but ultimately decided to be blunt, "don't turn into him again, okay?"

Max blinked in confusion, but when he saw that Michael was nodding in agreement with Isabel, realization seemed to dawn on him and his eyes turned warmer; more alive. "Sorry, I was just remembering."

"I know," Michael spoke for them both and shrugged, "me too. But let's go do what we came here for and stop stalling."

Max nodded and Isabel silently followed while she was secretly very relieved to see the human side of Max reappear. The war had changed them all; the deaths of their friends and the people, who fought for them, had been one of the major reasons for that change. The kills they'd had to make to survive and stay one step ahead of Khivar was another. Ultimately, none of them had changed more so than her brother.

He'd always been idealistic and somewhat hopeful for their success, especially after Serena and the Unit had entered their lives, but after Kyle, Serena, Maria and Liz had all died in some way or form to protect him; the biggest hope for the Antarians, Max had literally turned into another person. He killed without mercy, living only for vengeance. He no longer gave a damn about saving his home planet; he just wanted to see Khivar dead. Along the way, Max had transformed into someone that quite frankly scared the crap out of Isabel and she was not happy to see any kind of sign of his return.

No matter what, Isabel swore, not for the first time, I'm not letting that happen again!

A few minutes later, the trio had reached the podchamber and Max mutely placed his hand where it needed to be and before long the heavy stone slid aside, allowing them entrance.

It was odd being back in the chamber and Isabel's skin was itching in discomfort. Her eyes landed on the spot where she'd mercilessly killed the only one of Khivar's men that had ever managed to gain entrance to the podchamber, just moments before waking up in her bed in this timeline.

"It's okay, Iz," surprisingly, the comforting voice belonged to Max, "if you'd be more comfortable, we'll go outside."

"No," Isabel shook her head, "I think it's good for us to see this again and focus on not making the same mistakes. Let's just start planning before I lose the last of my good mood, please."

They sat down on the cool stone floor and Isabel and Michael looked at Max, unconsciously doing what they had promised not to, placing all their expectations on his shoulders. Fortunately, Max was so used to this that he didn't seem to realize what they were doing.

"I have an idea, but I'm not sure you're gonna like it," he began after a small pause.

Isabel crossed her arms; she suddenly had a very bad feeling in her chest. Michael, on the other hand, gestured for Max to continue without saying anything.

"I suggest that we initiate contact with Nasedo and then proceed to kill Pierce so Nasedo can do what he did the first time around and take down the Special Unit from the inside."

"No!" Isabel's hate for Nasedo flared to life and she jumped to her feet. "We can't do that, it's asking for trouble!"

Max calmly nodded, "Yes, but at least we know what to expect from him and…"for one brief moment, something dangerous flashed in Max's eyes, "Tess. We now know that he has to follow my orders, remember? And whether we like it or not, Tess hasn't actually done anything yet, so we can't go on hating her."

"Oh yes we damned well can," Michael joined the discussion with a dark expression on his face. "Khivar wouldn't have known half of what he did about us, if that two-faced bitch hadn't ratted us out to save her own neck."

Max got to his feet, he looked at them with disappointment and Isabel suddenly couldn't bear to face him. Judging from the fidgeting Michael was doing, he was having similar difficulties, "Don't forget that I know firsthand just how much she betrayed us, but," Max held up a hand, "if I'm willing to try and get past it so we can save everything and everyone we hold dear, you two should try and do the same. Especially you Michael…"

There was a long silence and then Michael slowly stood up, facing Max. Isabel watched with amazement, how he gave a short bow and stated seriously, "You're right, Max. I'm not willing to risk Maria's life again, so I'll follow you like I always have."

Max nodded once and locked eyes with Isabel. She still couldn't look him in the eye and looked away. It was true that Max had suffered the most from Tess's betrayal; not taking into account what had happened during their time in Roswell, Tess had leaked information during her pregnancy on Antar and Khivar had used that knowledge ruthlessly to capture Max and torture him in an attempt to lure out the rest of the rebels, but even after two weeks, Max hadn't broken from the pressure, and when Liz led Serena's Gifted Unit in a rescue attempt, only Max, Serena and two from her unit had made it back out alive.

The memory of watching the extremely battered Max cling to Liz's body and sobbing was still one of the worst ones she'd ever lived through. And then we lost Maria only a few hours after that, Isabel sadly recollected. Losing Alex was one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through, but I can't let any of that happen again; it's not only his life that's on the line…

Finally, having made her decision, Isabel looked back up and met her brother's eyes confidently. "I'm in."

Max's POV

It was late in the evening and Max was about to begin the first phase of his plan. He felt Michael's presence behind him, watching his back in case of trouble. For a person like him, a locked door didn't pose much difficulty, but in this case, he didn't even have to use his powers; his photographic memory already made sure that he knew the code to enter the building.

"It's kindda weird doing this again," Michael whispered with a silent grin, "considering that last time you were chewing me out for breaking in here."

Max rolled his eyes and closed the door to the UFO center quietly behind him, "Don't start, okay?"

After having finally come up with a battle plan, Max was almost eager to get it underway. He couldn't wait to get the F.B.I out of their lives – especially agent Pierce. This time he's not gonna get one chance to go near Liz and the rest of them, Max promised inwardly as he soundlessly walked into the computer room where his former boss, Milton and later Brody had stored some pretty neat stuff, considering it was just human technology.

Five minutes later, Max looked up at the impatient Michael. "I found it; he's actually easy to find once you remember what Serena taught us."

Nodding, Michael said, "Great, now finish what you have to do and let's get outta here before-"

The light was suddenly turned on and both hybrids tensed, preparing themselves for a fight; only to deflate slightly when Milton stepped inside the office with an angry expression on his face. "What are you two doing? I'm gonna call the cops!"

Michael looked like he wanted to flatten the pompous little alien believer, but Max quickly intervened. He still remembered how to handle the fanatic curator. "Please don't Mr. Ross. We're sorry. I swear I'm not doing anything dangerous." Not yet anyway, Max added on the inside.

Milton frowned, still looking angry and Max continued, acting every bit as fanatic as Milton usually did, "I just…I heard about a UFO sighting in the area and I know that this place is the best place to find information and I'm just so sorry; please don't call the cops! My parents will kill me!" Unnoticed, Max pressed the last few keys and finished his self-appointed mission.

Michael couldn't quite conceal the shock on his face, seeing Max acting like a kid caught with his hand stuck in the cookie jar, but he tried his best; nodding along to Max's explanation.

Fortunately all of Milton's attention was on Max so he didn't notice Michael's less than stellar acting abilities. "What sighting? The scanner I have didn't mention any UFO sightings," he asked after a brief pause.

Max swallowed a curse, he'd forgotten about Milton's police scanner. "Well, it wasn't really a confirmed sighting," he slowly said, looking down bashfully, "I mean; I read about it in my school paper and thought I'd just check it out. I'm just so eager. We're so eager, right?" Max glanced at Michael, who nodded fervently.

"Well," Milton said, almost reluctantly letting go of the phone in his hand, "I can understand your enthusiasm kid and even respect it as an enthusiastic believer myself, but trust me, there hasn't been any sightings around here. And I'd appreciate it a lot if you'd come around during business hours in the future."

Max breathed a sigh of relief when Milton stepped aside, allowing them to pass. They were almost at the front doors and Michael had just whispered, "That was a bit too close, even for me, Maxwell," when they heard the curator call out to them, or more specifically Max.

"Hey kid, can I talk to you?"

Max nodded and stepped away from Michael, so the older man could talk to him in private. "Look, I like you," Milton began, "like I said, you've got something I can relate too. Fire and drive. Unlike that big loaf over there," he pointed none too discreetly at Michael, "I can only offer you minimum wages and the hours aren't all that good, but I've got a lot of things a believer such as yourself might find interesting."

Fifteen minutes later, Max exited the UFO center, loaded with books, followed by an outright grinning Michael. "Oh, man, this is priceless," Michael declared. "We learn all about our heritage from our little healed girl genius, discover about unknown abilities due to all our dangerous adventures, travel through time itself and still you end up working for an obsessed extremist."

"Shut up."

"Like I said," Michael repeated, "priceless."

"Well," Max tried to think of the bigger picture, "at least we succeeded in our job. Now all we can do is wait."

For one short moment, Michael regained his seriousness. "Yeah and hope to hell it doesn't blow up in our faces."

"That too." Max said evenly and unloaded all Milton's alien books in the back of his jeep. "Wanna sleep at my house tonight?" he then asked, trying to think of something else.

Michael ran a hand through his hair, "maybe later; right now I just sort of feel like I need to spend some time around Maria. Don't worry," he continued, "I'll behave."

Max smiled briefly. "I know. I'd go watch over Liz if it wasn't because Isabel needs to know how everything turned out. I have a feeling that all the emotions of today will have filtered through the bond. Just remember to actually get some sleep."

Michael agreed and Max quickly started the jeep and drove home to tell Isabel of their success and his new, yet old, job. At least she won't mock me; he thought with a grimace, she's working part time at the Crashdown now, so she isn't allowed to point fingers...

Maria's POV

Maria was sitting by her window, looking out the glass onto the empty street. Why, she didn't really know, she just had a feeling that she should do that. There was a sudden stagger in her belly and Maria groaned loudly, placing her hand on her abdomen.

This time it was pure amusement that filtered through to her. At least it's changing into something bearable now, Maria thought sourly. All through the day, her mood had jumped up and down; she'd felt that odd pull inside her that somehow let her know of Michael's emotions.

Earlier in the day, it had been almost painful, a wave of sorrow, anger, guilt and then unyielding respect flew at her. She almost felt like she'd been hit in the stomach with a bat or something like that. One look at Liz's pale face, told her that her best friend was living through something of the same; except for the fact that Liz had actually run past her into the toilet where she'd been sick for a pretty long time before Mr. Parker had sent her upstairs with a firm order to rest.

How long she'd been sitting there on the windowsill lost in thought, Maria didn't know, but suddenly she noticed a familiar shadow on the other side of the road. Unexplainably she suddenly felt a mental image flash through her mind, like déjà vu; the same shadow lurking in the dark, staring at her through the heavy rain with big puppy dog eyes.

Maria scrambled to her feet, opening the window and sticking her head out. "What are you doing here, Guerin?"

Michael stepped closer and the nearby streetlamp enveloped him in light, allowing her to see him much clearer. He really is quite handsome, Maria thought, but she forced the traitorous thought back, not willing to feel even the slightest bit of attraction to an alien; no matter how cute he was.

"Nothing," Michael answered with a small smile on his lips. Maria tried not to look at them and instead focused on his eyes. "I guess I wanted to make sure you were alright after…everything."

Biting her bottom lip, Maria thought about how she'd kicked him in the groin, how hurt he'd looked at her for just one second before the real pain set in and he fell to the ground with a moan of agony.

"I'm coping," she settled on saying and then said in a rush, "and I'm sorry about lashing out on you and I hope you're not permanently injured."

Michael smiled, it was a slow, wide smile that re-invited the thought about his looks into Maria's mind, "I'm fine now, thanks. Like I said, I just wanted to check up on you. Make sure, you're not sniffing too many drops and trying to cope with everything on your own."

"I've got Liz," Maria stated quietly, not really noticing that she was leaning further and further out the window.

Michael nodded. "Yeah, you two have always been quite a pair, haven't you?" Maria could suddenly feel a short stab of grief and determination inside her and she frowned, pondering its meaning.

"Well," Michael's voice brought her back to the present. "I'm gonna go now. I'll see you in school first thing Monday, DeLuca. "

Before she knew it, Michael had taken the last few steps to reach her and his warm hand touched her neck gently, almost reverently and he had pressed a quick, chaste kiss on her right cheek. "Sleep well."

A moment later, he was gone and Maria slowly stumbled back into her room. She was completely confused. On one hand Michael Guerin was the kid, who she'd always loathed. The guy, who'd had the audacity to say that she was a crappy waitress because she told him that tips wasn't a city in Russia. The guy, who'd turned out to be a freaking alien!

And then…Maria sighed, on the other hand, Michael Guerin was the guy, who'd jumped in and shielded her with his body at the day of the shooting, the guy, who'd comforted her after getting injured at the diner and called her baby of all things.

I need to bring out the big guns, Maria decided after having tossed and turned in her bed for nearly an hour, still wholly awake. She turned to her nightstand and took out the bottle of calming drops that her mom had made her swear only to use in dire emergencies.

And if this isn't an emergency, Maria thought resolutely, I don't know what is! Five minutes later, she was fast asleep.

Somewhere in Seattle

A continuous beep resonated all through the small, unfurnished house. Feeling surprised for once, he reached out, grapping the device and looked at it with furrowed brows before pressing a few of the glowing buttons. The sound abruptly stopped and a message came spilling forth in a code that he hadn't seen since his days as an active soldier.

"Well, isn't that interesting," he muttered quietly, reading the whole thing with an intense look in his eyes. He had waited a long time for some kind of sign from the King, but nothing like this. "Interesting indeed."

"What are you doing, Nasedo?"

Nasedo looked up from the message and smirked coolly at the pretty, young, blond girl standing in the door. "I think it's time we moved back to the rest of our family," he simply stated, ignoring her surprise. "Start packing, we leave in the morning."

TBC…


	8. Liz, Max, Isabel and Kathleen

CHAPTER EIGHT

Liz's POV

"This has got to be the biggest waste of time ever," Maria whispered in her ear and Liz had to fight hard to suppress a giggle.

Apparently she hadn't succeeded, because she noticed that both Kyle and Max had turned halfway in their seats to look at her.

The look Kyle sent her was a mixture of his usual longing and bitterness. And she quickly looked away, knowing that he still carried a torch for her. But how can I even think about being with him anymore, now that I'm…

Unable to finish her thought, Liz's gaze trailed over at Max who'd turned back to listen to Topolsky's lecture about their future possibilities. He really is quite handsome, she thought, fighting off a blush, that dark hair and his eyes and not to mention his-

"Liz," Maria's voice reached her and she jumped a bit. "You're spacing out. That's usually my job. Especially in this scholastic environment."

Smiling ruefully, Liz paid attention for the rest of the class, nodding every now and again whenever Maria muttered something none too politely about the lecture and those career sessions they'd been suffering through the entire day.

When the class finally ended, Maria dragged Liz past Max, not giving her a chance to do more than say hello. Liz had a pretty good suspicion that the quickness was because of Michael's presence next to Max. And Maria was doing almost everything in her power these days to avoid the other teenager.

Just as they exited the classroom, Kyle's voice reached them. "Hey. Uhm, could I maybe talk to Liz for a little bit?"

Maria rolled her eyes, but released her death grip on Liz and went in search of Alex. Liz smiled politely at the guy, whom she'd practically been dating before the shooting. "Hey Kyle."

Kyle smiled, looking oddly shy all of the sudden and Liz recognized the signs with an internal sigh. He's gonna ask me out again. How do I reject him without hurting his feelings? He's such a nice guy.

Suddenly there was a flash of something that burned hotly in her stomach and Liz frowned, placing her hand on the spot. Anger? No, that's not it. What's going on?

Liz looked over Kyle's shoulder and locked eyes with Max. He looked, if not mad, then at least not in a positive mood. He broke the stare a few seconds later and turned around to talk to a smirking Michael. What is going on?

"…so, what do you say?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

Kyle's eyes darkened at her obvious lack of interest in his words and Liz smiled, "I'm sorry, I was just spacing out for a second there. What did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted to go to a movie with me tomorrow night? There's this great one playing…or we could just rent some movies instead. I'd really like you to go out with me. It can be casual and everything, I won't expect anything, I just want to hang out with you, Liz. You know, like we used to."

Biting her lip, and trying her best to ignore the increasing burn in her stomach, Liz couldn't make herself decline. After all, she reasoned internally, he's been my friend a lot longer than he ever was my boyfriend. I miss our friendship.

"Okay, Kyle. I'm free tomorrow. How does seven o'clock sound?"

A few minutes later, they'd settled on the time and place and Liz made her way to her next class. It was an odd class; the subject was boring as always, but throughout the entire period, Liz could sense Max's emotions churning in her belly. It ranged between annoyance, amusement and something else that she just couldn't put her finger on. She didn't share the class with Max, so she couldn't watch his face to determine what was going on.

Instead she kept looking over at Michael, who, quite uncharacteristically, was once again present in class. He was sitting a few seats in front of her, allowing Liz to watch him closely. I wonder if he knows what going on? She thought, at the same time writing down the notes on the blackboard without really thinking about it. It's no secret that he's Max's best friend. I should try and ask him more about the whole alien business, but, Liz glanced over at the large teenager again, he's never made any secret about not liking me. I bet he won't even talk to me, especially if I mention the whole feeling things from Max…

"Miss Parker?"

With a jolt, Liz returned to the present, realizing with flaming cheeks that the entire class was staring at her. Some were even giggling at her predicament. "Yes, sir?" she asked, praying that the earth would open up and swallow her.

"I'd appreciate it, if you'd pay attention to my lecture." The stuffy, middle-aged, tweed wearing man said with a superior look in his beady eyes.

Chastesed, Liz nodded and tried to put her thoughts behind her.

When the class ended, Liz was one of the first ones out the door. She ran to her locker and changed her books for her next class and was in the middle of toying with the zipper of her book bag when a shadow fell over her and she looked up.

Immediately, she felt a greeting smile break out on her lips at the sight of Max. "Max, hi," Liz said as her hands kept trying to close the uncooperative zipper on her bag. A second glance at the boy she didn't completely admit having a crush on, told Liz that he was being more serious than usual.

"What's wrong?" Concern laced her words and she put the still opened book bag back in her locker to focus on him instead.

To Liz's surprise, Max's fidgeted, shifting his weight from one leg to another without saying anything at first. Liz was about to repeat the question when Max finally spoke. "You shouldn't go out with Kyle Valenti. It's a bad idea."

"Uhm, excuse me," Liz began with a frown marring her features, "but that's not really your business, is it Max."

Max swallowed, before answering, "It's just not a good idea for you to be with him, especially since you don't feel the same thing for him as he does for you." Max's lips moved up into a smirk that made Liz suddenly want to punch him, "I didn't think you'd be one of those girls playing with a guy's heart."

Liz took a deep breath, trying to ignore both her growing anger and the tiny spark of amusement and annoyance that she was pretty sure was coming from the boy in front of her. It wasn't working and Liz grabbed her book bag, and slammed the locker with a loud bang that echoed through the halls.

People stared a bit, but quickly averted their attention when Liz sent the onlookers a glare of death, which was completely uncharacteristic for the mild mannered brunette. Finally having acted out a bit of her anger, Liz met Max's eyes.

"I'm not using Kyle. He's my friend and like it or not, Max Evans, it's got nothing to do with you. I see who I wanna see, and that's that. Now, excuse me, I'm late for class."

Liz pushed her way past Max, making sure to bump roughly into him just to be annoying and walked to the classroom. She was practically seething with anger. How dare he say those things to me? And that smug look on his face? Urgh!

Liz wasn't typically a hot tempered girl, her anger seldom lasted long, but one those rare occasions where something irked her, it was dangerous to be around her. And in that moment, her anger showed no signs of diminishing.

It was all made worse when she rounded a corner and accidentally bumped into someone. "Hey watch it, Dinergirl!" someone hissed and Liz looked up and froze.

The girl she'd barreled into was the one who'd so maliciously tripped Maria in the Crashdown the other day, Michelle something. Liz knew that Isabel had taken her own anger out on the ditzy teenage girl, but Liz had never gotten a chance to talk to her herself. And boy am I in the mood to "talk" to her, Liz thought as she straightened herself back up and crossed her arms.

"Original name calling there, Michelle. I'm proud to see that several years in school have made you so ingenious."

Michelle's eyes nearly popped out of her eyes, but she didn't get a chance to respond, before Liz continued, "I've been meaning to talk to you ever since you hurt my best friend. If you ever even look at her again, I'm gonna make sure that you get food poisoning from every take out place in town for the rest of your miserable life. "

Michelle snorted, and glanced back at her waiting friends, who were watching the confrontation with eager eyes. When she looked back at Liz, the brunette noticed a spark of fear in her eyes. Apparently she isn't too keen on public mocking when she's the victim…Well, too bad!

"Having fun?" Isabel's voice suddenly sounded from behind Liz and the latter noticed genuine horror in Michelle's entire stance at the sight of the tall blonde. If she wasn't so mad at the moment, Liz might even have felt a bit sorry for her, but fortunately she wasn't and she turned halfway around to speak to Isabel.

"I was just reminding Michelle to watch where she puts her feet in the future. Wouldn't want people to get hurt again, now would we?"

Isabel looked almost shocked over Liz's abnormal display of bloodthirstiness, but she quickly covered it up and grinned evilly down at the now visibly shaking Michelle. "Oh, I'm happy to see you looking out for other people, Liz. I'll help you whenever you need it."

Isabel's eyes narrowed and she asked, with a none too concerned smirk on her lips, "Did you sleep okay last night, Michelle? You look a bit worn out… Are you having bad dreams? You should take better care of yourself you know. Sleep is very important."

Isabel took a gentle hold of Liz's arm and all but dragged her into the class they shared together, before Liz could say anything else. They settled down next to each other and Liz, whose bad mood wasn't growing any better, crossed her arms and looked down at the table in front of her.

"What's up, Liz? Not that I didn't enjoy watching Michelle almost pee herself, but this angry vibe you're giving out, isn't like you."

Liz clenched her jaw for a second, grinding her teeth as she fought off her initial desire to say something less than positive to her new friend. After a few seconds, Liz opened her mouth, fully prepared to spew something boring and unimaginative about having had a rough night, but instead she spilled everything without the slightest pause.

As she finished giving the rundown of her talk with Max, Liz wondered why she'd told Isabel about it. It's not like me to whine about something like this? Especially to a girl I've barely ever talked to…Besides, she's his sister; she's bound to try and defend him at all costs no matter how big of an idiot he seems to be.

Isabel surprised her though, a little. For a brief moment, Isabel looked like she couldn't quite decide whether to laugh or growl. She muttered something that Liz swore sounded like, "he just couldn't keep himself in check for one little date," before speaking in a normal tone of voice. "Look Liz, I'll be the first to admit that my brother is a little on the possessive side. But-"

Liz interrupted with a sigh, rubbing her tense neck soothingly, "Look, Isabel. I'm not gonna stop being angry at him; I know I'm being dramatic and I bet when I'm a bit more calm, I won't…Well, I just need to calm down first. So, let's just focus on getting through the day and I'll talk to you later at our shift at the Crash, okay?"

Despite looking as though she desperately wanted to say something, Isabel held her tongue and turned toward the front of the room to concentrate on the just arrived teacher. Liz was grateful and leaned forward, resting her head in her hand while silently wondering just why Max was infuriating her so.

It can't all be me, she thought, gnawing on her bottom lip, I guess the feelings I get from him are feeding my own anger and multiplying it…Well, too bad, I'm too mad to calm down just yet…Max isn't the boss of me and I'll act like any normal teenage girl and be mad at him until he caves in.

In the back of Liz's mind, she briefly considered how Max had managed to rile her up with so little effort and if her feelings just might expand beyond a common crush, considering the pang of hurt she realized belatedly that she'd felt when Max hadn't come after her to apologize immediately.

Max's POV

Max wasn't in the best of moods when he followed Michael into the Crashdown that evening to pick up Isabel after her shift. They'd arrived a bit early to get something to eat, since Dianne was at a friend's house bonding over their traveling husbands and hadn't cooked for them.

Max had been feeling less than positive ever since he'd witnessed Kyle ask out his wife. Well, future wife, but that's beside the point, Max reluctantly amended. Add to that, Liz's sudden burst of anger that was completely blown out of proportion in his opinion; he hadn't been having the best of days.

The familiar smell of fast food and heat reached Max's sensitive nose and he took a deep breath, trying to relax. It was made even more difficult when his eyes met Liz's and she almost immediately frowned and turned away to take a finished order from a yawning Jose.

Why is she so mad at me? Max wondered, not for the first time that day. The entire day had gone by with her anger and disappointment rolling through him like a wildfire. He hadn't felt her so angry at him since…well, there was only the time after Alex's death in the original timeline that came close and he couldn't see how his possessive behavior that time was anything like him warning her to not break Kyle's heart. He was only looking out for the guy, after all.

"Max?"

Max blinked out of his thoughts, realizing he'd been standing motionless ever since Liz had turned away to ignore him, and met his sister's gaze. For one second, his mood lightened a fraction. The sight of his very beautiful sister in the Crashdown uniform never failed to make him smile. "Hey Iz," he greeted and slid into the booth across from Michael, who was looking closely at the menu.

"She's still pretty mad at you," Isabel warned when Max's eyes trailed after Liz, who was now taking orders from some of Kyle's friends, including that wanna be tough guy, Johnny that loved to harass Alex, over at another booth.

"Yeah, I know," Max muttered and finally looked away when Johnny leered smugly at him. "I just think she's overreacting a bit."

Michael snorted, placing the menu on the table, "Dude, don't take this the wrong way, but you're an idiot. Take it from someone who's more used to hot tempered women than you are; just save yourself the hassle and apologize."

Growing exasperated by his fellow hybrids ganging up on him, Max leaned back and glared mildly at them. "I'm not gonna apologize for something that isn't worth doing it for. It's a real problem, Kyle isn't meant for her and she shouldn't play with his heart."

"And you shouldn't interfere when you're not needed," Liz's ice cold voice stated as she suddenly appeared next to Isabel with a tray of Cherry cola's. Setting them down on the table with a slam, she turned to Max and continued, "Also, I'm not "playing" anything. Like I said at school; Kyle is my friend and that's that!"

Jealousy flared through Max's insides and he took deep breaths to control it. I think my teenage self's emotions are showing up; I know I'm being irrational, but I'm not able to stop it.

"Liz," Isabel interjected between them, trying to stop the tension from mounting, but it was futile.

A moment later, Liz spoke again and her words caused the trio to freeze in shock, and in Max's case, unbelievable hurt and sadness.

"And by the way Max, I need you to somehow put a stop to that whole feeling your emotions thing. It's distracting me and I don't like it. It's frustrating enough to deal with my own feelings without having this weird Czechoslovakian thing going on between us."

What? But you said you loved our connection! That is made us complete! Max roared on the inside, suddenly unable to move a muscle. He tried reminding himself that it was the Liz from his other life that had stated her love for their bond and not this one. But it was hard; because her words caused an agony his torture at Khivar's hands hadn't managed and it very nearly ruined him.

"Liz, chill and go get us some food," Michael roughly demanded, looking closely at Max, who still couldn't make himself act normal.

Liz's brown eyes looked a bit guilty for a second, but then she turned around and left. Max swallowed hard, trying to fulfill his love's request. It took a tremendous amount of effort, but eventually, Max felt the thrumming web between them subside, turning into just a dull imitation of its original state. It felt horrible, like a piece of him was missing, but Max fought the urge to reopen the bond, not willing to suffer through any more of those cold looks from Liz. It's only temporary, he tried consoling himself.

The smell of food brought Max back from his mind and he stared blindly down at a plate of fries. The aroma of Tabasco sauce, some of which Michael seemed to have sprinkled on them, reached him and suddenly Max felt nauseous.

Before he realized it, he was moving; muttering to Michael that he had to leave. He reached the door and practically ran outside, gasping for some fresh air. Max walked a bit away from the diner and leaned up against a wall in a nearby alley, fighting the need to throw up. He had no idea how long he stood there, repressing dry heaves.

"Whoa, what have we here?"

Max looked up and when he recognized the speaker, he sighed tiredly. This day can't get much worse, he thought in a rare bout of self-pity. I can't believe I didn't remember this…

It seemed that Max had been so preoccupied with his love life, or resounding lack thereof, that he'd failed to recognize the group of Kyle's friends in the Crashdown as the group that once upon a time ganged up on him in an alley similar to the one he was standing in, to beat him for flirting with "Kyle's girl."

"Look, guys," Johnny mocked, "he's all petrified of us. Hey, Evans, I think you need to remember that you shouldn't be talking to other people's girls."

"Liz isn't Kyle's girl," the words left Max's mouth in a snarl and he straightened up. He could feel the control on his anger slipping and he knew he had to leave before he really snapped and did something these children weren't ready for.

"Oh yes she is," Johnny said and cracked his knuckles in a would be threatening way. It might have worked if his victim hadn't fought a war. "Now, Evans. You're gonna stay away from Parker, so Kyle can get a chance to do her before he moves on to the next one."

Don't kill him; don't kill him, Max frantically thought to himself, forcing his rage down as he tried to walk past the five jocks without resorting to violence. Unfortunately, Johnny took it a step too far for the alien king, who was not only pushed hard in the back, but as he stumbled forward in an attempt to regain his balance, Johnny spoke again, "Maybe after he's done with her, I'm gonna try out for a chance between those milky thighs. I bet she's all tight and-"

In that moment, Max boiled over. It wasn't his alien side that snapped; there was no visible aura of power around him. It was his human side that couldn't take it anymore and he turned around in one swift movement and punched Johnny in the face hard enough for the athlete to go down with a moan of pain, blood sprouting from his broken nose.

The other jocks instantly crowded Max, intent on taking him down with their numbers, but Max was now a sea of boiling rage, so those few opponents was next to nothing but punching bags to him. He spun around and landed a hard kick in the stomach on one guy, while he simultaneously snapped the bone in another one's arm and as Max crouched down to the asphalt he swepped his leg out and made sure the remaining two jocks fell hard to the ground.

As he was making his way to the nearest jock, Johnny's arm went across Max's neck and he punched him repeatedly in the kidneys with the other. It was obvious to the hybrid that Johnny had done these kinds of attacks before and was too confident in his own strength.

The pain the punches brought Max, didn't even faze him. He simply reached behind him and threw Johnny over his shoulders, twisting out of his grip as the other boy landed on the ground with a thump. Max only got to kick the downed Johnny in the ribs once, before the two remaining guys were on him. They tried to hit him hard enough for Max to fall down, but they only succeeded in pissing him off even further.

A few seconds later, Max had turned around enough to grab their heads and slam them into the nearest brick wall with a loud bang. They slid to the ground, bleeding and very much unconscious. A quick glance behind him, told the enraged timetraveller that the one with the broken arm had fled from the scene. The other, was still kneeling on the ground, trying his damndest to catch a breath after the devastatingly hard assault on his gut.

Casually, Max strolled over to the gasping teenager and without further ado, he simply drew back his hand and hit him with enough force to knock him out. In the background, Max heard Johnny groan and curse him out as he watched him attack his friends with a different kind of strength he'd never shown before.

Max turned back, his vision still almost red with anger, and started kicking Johnny in the ribs relentlessly. "Don't. Talk. To. Me. About. Liz. Ever. Again." He demanded with each brutal thrust of his leg. Johnny had curled into a ball to try and protect himself, but Max was having none of that, so he bent down and started raining down punches in Johnny's face. His knuckles were red with blood; his own and that of his opponents.

In his haze, Max didn't even notice the muscular arms around him, desperately trying to pull him off the now clearly unconscious Johnny. He simply continued hitting with a feral grin on his lips.

Isabel's POV

Isabel was in a mood to yell. She watched her brother's face crumble momentarily before he slammed his familiar blank mask into place. A few moments later, Michael and she watched him leave as though he was being chased, eager to get away from them to seek out some much needed privacy.

In that moment, Isabel felt protective of her brother and she turned to find Liz. Michael seemed to have the same desire, but Isabel gestured to the cooling food on the table. "Eat and let me deal with this." She didn't even wait for Michael to agree verbally before she walked over to Liz, who was standing at the counter, filling up the salt shakers with a peculiar look on her face.

"We need to talk," Isabel stated gripping Liz's arm and unceremoniously leading her into the empty backroom.

"Isabel, I'm working." Liz tried to get out of Isabel's firm grip, but it was in vain and Isabel merely waited until she realized that too.

It didn't take long and as soon as Liz stopped struggling, Isabel said, "Why would you even say that to Max? It's gonna cause him pain and I hate to see my brother in any kind of pain; I don't care how close you and I are getting, I will kick your ass if you don't stop acting like a spoiled brat."

Liz sighed and looked up at Isabel. The look in her eyes made Isabel pause in her scolding. She looks sad. Why? She got what she wanted didn't she?

"Isabel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…It just slipped out, I've been so angry all day, it's been eating away at me and I just knew he was…that it was his fault somehow and then I said it and I could see how hurt he was."

Isabel watched the guilt and genuine remorse in Liz's dark eyes as she continued softly, "but I don't regret asking him to close the bond because, no wait," Liz held up her free hand when Isabel was about to interrupt, "I don't regret it because, although it has its perks, I barely know Max and having our emotions out in the open like that scares me a little…But I am sorry that I hurt him, that's the last thing I ever wanted to do. From now on we'll get to know each other like normal people. No matter how un-normal he really is. Give me that at least."

Isabel let go of Liz's arm with a heavy sigh. Liz rubbed her arm, making Isabel realize that she might have held on a bit too tight in her quest for justice. "Sorry about that," she pointed at Liz's arm.

Liz smiled a small smile, "It's okay. Listen, Isabel; I'm gonna go out with Kyle tomorrow and hopefully have a little fun and after that I'll talk to Max so we can put this whole drama thing behind us. Now, go change, your shift ended five minutes ago and knowing my dad, he's not too fond of paying for overtime if it can be avoided. See ya tomorrow at school."

Isabel nodded; feeling exhausted all of the sudden. Her day had been long. She'd spent most of her night dreamwalking into Michelle's dreams, giving her a healthy dose of fear, and then she'd spent an agonizingly long session with Kathleen Topolsky during the day, trying to remember how she'd acted the first time around, while attempting to see how much the F.B.I. female already knew. And now this whole mess on top of it all.

A part of Isabel could relate to Liz and knew that the brunette didn't have a malicious bone in her body, but the rest of her was conflicted. Her old memories of the Liz who'd led Serena and her group into Khivar's den to save her husband was fighting against the ones of the teenaged Liz that had scarcely scratched the surface of their alien world.

It almost makes me miss the days of battle. Things were much simpler then; kill or be killed, Isabel mused as she changed out of her uniform. The memory of Alex's grin during their short lunch date flashed into her mind, along with the sight of a smirking Kyle in the school's cafeteria earlier that day, and Isabel smiled to herself. No, not really. I'd live through this messy teenage life a thousand times over just to see those two alive and well. To see them all alive…

She'd just finished changing back into her regular clothes so she could wait for Max to come back and drive her home, when she felt it.

A swirl of anger, betrayal, and hurt all mixed together with a big dose of pure fury. And it was coming from her brother. There was no doubt in Isabel's mind. She quickly walked back into the diner and searched out Michael, who was sitting with a hamburger halfway up to his mouth, frozen as he too was assaulted by the roaring emotions coming from their former leader.

"Michael!" Isabel brought him back to life and he quickly set down his food and got to his feet. Isabel noticed Liz standing by the kitchen with a confused frown on her face, at the sight of their sudden departure. Apparently, Max had fulfilled her request completely because Isabel had no doubt that had Liz felt what was happening, she'd have been right behind them. No matter how close Max was to her on the surface, she would never let him suffer if she could help it.

Isabel followed Michael out the door and they'd only taken a few steps before Michael started running with a loud curse. When Isabel reached the alley where Michael had disappeared from her sight a few seconds later, she had to fight hard to not react with a curse of her own.

Some of the sporty guys from school were lying on the ground, all of them unconscious and obviously wounded.

"Damn it Max, snap out of it!" Michael's yell, brought Isabel's attention back to her brother and this time she couldn't contain her shock. Michael had wrapped his arms around Max's waist. Max didn't seem to notice; instead he was looking very concentrated as he repeatedly hit that guy, Johnny's face. There was blood all over the boy's face and Isabel had no doubt that he was missing a tooth or two.

"Isabel, he's completely lost it," Michael grunted as he kept struggling to contain Max's deadly movements.

Isabel swallowed hard, but like Michael and Max, she too had seen a war and blood and gore was not new things to her. She quickly shook off her initial surprise and fear, walking over to her brother and yanked Johnny out of his iron grip.

Max literally growled at that and Michael almost lost his grip when Max's resistance intensified. "Max, calm the fuck down!"

Isabel glanced down at the bleeding boy in her arms and placed him gently on the ground, hoping he was still alive, before turning to Max. She hated the bolt of fear she got just by looking at him. No one should be afraid of their own family, but whenever Max was in this kind of mood, he was deadly. And he hadn't even tapped into his powers from the looks of it.

Taking a deep breath, Isabel kneeled in front of the squirming Max and firmly placed her hands on his cheeks. "Max," she began, looking him dead in the eyes, "relax. You're scaring me. Please."

Max didn't react, he just kept trying to escape Michael's hold on him and Isabel did the only thing she could think off. She slapped him across the face; hard.

"Max, we didn't travel through time for you to lose it already," Isabel stated without letting his glare get to her. On the outside at least, inwardly she was fighting off tremors. "What would Liz think if she saw you like this? What if she'd been the one to come out here?"

It took a few more moments, but finally Max's eyes turned back to themselves, losing that crazed, homicidal look. He blinked, slowly returning to normal. A second later, his eyes darted to the unconscious bodies around them and he groaned in shame.

"I'm sorry, I…" Max started and slumped against Michael's hold for a moment, before gently releasing himself. "I'll make it alright again, I promise." He got to his feet and walked over to Johnny, who was still completely unresponsive. Max crouched down and took his pulse. A look of profound relief crossed his features, so Isabel surmised that the other boy was still alive.

Then her eyes widened when Max's hands started to give a familiar glow, "Max, no!" she screamed and ran over to him and roughly pushed him away from Johnny's body.

"Iz, what the hell?" Michael objected as he reached down and helped Max to his feet.

"You can't heal them, Max," Isabel explained, wringing her manicured hands, full of nervous energy. "We don't know these guys. We don't know if they can be trusted and if you heal them, they'll have questions and," Isabel added with a pleading look at Max's stubborn face, "if they can't be trusted to keep all this to themselves, we'll be standing with five guys with abilities in the near future, who can make all our hard work fall apart."

Understanding dawned on Max's face and he glanced guiltily down at the five boys he'd just beaten with ease. "You're right," he whispered and looked back at her. "But no matter what, I'm in a lot of trouble now – especially when they wake up."

Michael gave a half-hearted laugh and shrugged when they looked at him in mild disbelief over his untimely behavior in this serious moment. "Look, guys, I doubt these idiots will go spewing to people that they got their asses handed to them by one person; let alone the somewhat nerdy loner, Max Evans. I bet when they show up at school tomorrow, they'll lie through their teeth about how they fought of a gang of drug dealers or something like that. They're way too proud to admit what really happened, so don't worry."

Isabel smiled and saw how Max copied her with an eye roll. "That actually makes sense."

Michael shrugged again, crossing his arms in self-defense. "Hey, I do have my moments. Now let's stop hanging around here before someone walks by and calls Valenti; we don't need to add him into the mix right now."

Isabel nodded in agreement and was about to help Max and Michael move the high school boys a bit further into the shadows, when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, I was gonna lend y'all a hand with this whole mess, but judging from what I've just heard and seen, I'm thinking I'm a bit over my head here."

The trio of timetravellers immediately tensed up. Michael got into battle stance and Isabel emulated him, but then she looked over at Max and hesitated.

Max looked awful; the blood had fled his earlier flushed face, leaving him paler than a ghost. His eyes were wide and his mouth was even a little bit open in obvious shock. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he knows her.

Isabel cast a closer look at the speaker. It was a woman; she looked to be in her late sixties, with white-grey hair and what were more importantly; extremely intelligent brown eyes that were watching their every move silently. I've got a bad feeling about this, Isabel decided as she heard Michael mutter to Max in the background.

"Max, what's wrong? Do you know her? What do you want us to do?"

Max didn't immediately launch into an explanation and Isabel felt her heart in her throat, seemingly trying to escape her body. Finally, after what seemed like forever, but probably wasn't more than a few seconds, Max opened his mouth and croaked out quietly, "I…That's Claudia and we're in trouble."

"Trouble how?" Isabel asked, grabbing her throat to try and calm herself down a bit.

Michael stepped closer to Max at the same time, his eyes narrowed and his mouth set in a firm line. "Maxwell, what are you talking about?"

Max licked his lips once before finally speaking again; this time he managed to nod a bit in the direction of the immobile woman in front of them. "We're in trouble because that's Liz's grandma, Claudia…"

"Oh crap," Isabel closed her eyes as if in prayer. Why can't things ever go smoothly for us? Why?

TBC…

 

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A little Extra Scene Because You All Rock;) (And also, I couldn't fit it into the chapter without ruining the flow)…

Topolsky's POV

"So, why don't you start by telling me what your dream job would be?"

She eyed the youth in front of her and suppressed a shudder. Michael Guerin's eyes would probably not kill her, but it sure looked like he was trying to do just that.

"I don't dream," he answered curtly after a long, tense pause.

Kathleen sighed inwardly, glancing down at her notes. Michael Guerin is one of the suspects; I have to get under his skin. I didn't get anywhere with the Evans' kids, so this is my last shot. The thought about the Evans siblings almost made her skin crawl.

If Michael's gaze looked threatening, the look that Isabel had given her was downright murderous. Not to mention, Kathleen couldn't quite avoid a quick quiver at the memory, Max Evans. He was polite and timid enough when I talked to him, but his eyes…Unlike the other two, there was just something there that scared me on a whole other level.

"Are we done yet?" Michael's drawl, brought Kathleen back to the present and she straightened up; shaking off the memories of her earlier "consultations."

"Not quite yet, Mr. Guerin. I need to ask you; where do you actually see yourself in ten years?" Come on, she urged internally, give me something…

Michael's careless attitude didn't waver as he blinked slowly before answering, "On an extended road trip, if all goes well."

Kathleen frowned. "Uhm, that sounds nice; but I was thinking more along the lines of, "what do you actually think you'll be working as" in ten years?"

Michael didn't say anything for a long moment and Kathleen was itching to just scream at him to behave like the alien she very much suspected he was, and not like some surly teenager. "You asked me where I saw myself in ten years and that's my answer. Take it or leave it."

Kathleen was about to spew some of her quickly studied psychology, when Michael got to his feet, "Now, I'm not gonna look at some picture and identify with it, like Max and Iz did; I'm not in the mood for any more psycho babble."

Letting some of her real authority shine through, Kathleen pointed at the chair he'd just vacated. "Sit down, Michael. This session is only over when I say it's over."

Michael didn't move at first, but then he sighed loud enough to show off his boredom and sat back down. "Okay, let's have some more fun together," he mocked and leaned back with a big yawn,

If he hadn't been best friends with the main suspect, I would put him in the pile with the other deadbeats, Kathleen fumed inwardly. On the outside, however, the blond gave a small, friendly smile and held up a picture of kids playing on the playground. "Which one of these do you most identify with?"

"The one who's not there, 'cause he's out buying beer for his guardian." Michael deadpanned.

"Michael," Kathleen tried to act cool and collected, but the boy was making it exceedingly hard on her, "I'm sorry if I'm pushing your limits. Please tell me, why do you find talking to me so difficult?"

Michael's eyes morphed into something that once again reminded the F.B.I agent about Max Evans. In her head Michael just jumped up to suspect number two. She quickly told herself that Michael Guerin had also been one of the children found wandering the desert, butt naked and without any real language.

All thoughts about her suspects and their past flew out of Kathleen's mind when Michael finally answered her earlier question. "I don't like people, who're busy trying to come up with dirt about me to expose me."

Only her training prevented Kathleen from freezing noticeably. How does he know? Did he figure out my true identity?

There was a long, heavy silence in the small office, but for the life of her, Kathleen couldn't seem to move. She was half planning her escape from the special unit; knowing all too well that Pierce wouldn't allow defeat.

Then she released a breath, she hadn't realized she was holding when Michael rubbed his neck and said bluntly, "I mean a guidance counselor is nothing more than a wannabe shrink and I don't like shrinks. They wanna probe me and figure out what makes me tick and I'm not having any of that.

There was a glint of something in Michael's eyes, and if Kathleen hadn't been too distracted by her own relief, she might have recognized it as dark amusement over something she couldn't possibly understand.

"I appreciate your honesty," she eventually stated and made a show of writing something down in her notes, trying to stay in character. "Well, that's all for now, but I think you should know that you can always come to me, Michael. I'm a fairly good observer and listener, if you need one."

Michael sent her a smirk and left without another word. Kathleen sighed and glanced down at her papers. She'd highlighted the five people she'd been following ever since her enrollment as the school's guidance counselor, but there was nothing really striking about her observations.

And there was a small part of her, that had a feeling that Michael had been talking about something completely different when he mentioned being exposed, but she put it in the back of her mind and smiled a friendly smile when her next student walked in. "Take a seat, Miss Parker and let's begin."


	9. Liz, Claudia and Michael

CHAPTER NINE

Liz's POV

I hate growing up, Liz thought as she sat brushing her long dark hair before bed. It makes people realize that the people they've always seen as infallible are humans too… Stubborn humans.

Liz put down her hairbrush and hung her robe on her chair neatly before getting into her bed, pulling the sheets up to her chin, as she thought back on her odd day of realizations and emotional turmoil.

She'd gotten up early and, in an attempt to fight of the continuous guilt about Max, hurried into the kitchen to grab some cereal before showering. She'd stopped dead in the doorway when she'd realized that her parents weren't alone.

"Grandma Claudia!" She'd hurried over and greeted her grandmother with a fierce hug, talking a mile a minute. For a moment, she'd noticed how her grandmother's usually so vibrant eyes were dark with some unfamiliar emotion, but a second later, the elderly Parker had laughed loudly like she always did and everything had been right with the world again.

Liz sighed, trying to get comfortable in the bed, while inwardly going over her day in more detail. She'd been sitting at the breakfast table with her cereal, talking animatedly with her grandmother when she spotted that unusual look in her eyes again.

"Are you okay, Grandma?" Liz had asked, putting down her spoon.

Claudia had laughed again, but even Liz could hear it was a forced effort. "I'm fine girly girl. Just you keep telling me what you've been up too since my last visit? Any cute boys in your life?"

Immediately, an image of Max had fluttered through Liz's mind, and she had looked down at her half eaten breakfast.

"Uh," Claudia had grinned with a slight teasing leer on her face, "tell me everything."

"I'm not involved with anyone right now," Liz had managed to say with quiet dignity before her mother suddenly sat down next to them and had interjected with a raised eyebrow,

"Oh? What about Kyle? Didn't you tell me you were going out tonight?"

Liz was usually a very serene and quiet kind of girl, but in that moment, she had wanted to throttle her mother or at the very least have a Maria freak out at Nancy Parker. Instead, she had settled on a big eye roll and a scowl. "Mom, I wasn't talking to you."

"Well, I guess I should finish the laundry," the pragmatic Parker female had stated and left.

Liz had instantly fought down the tiny spark of guilt over her rudeness, but then looked back at her grandmother and asked, "When did you come? I didn't know you'd made plans to stay until sometime next month."

Claudia's smile and shrug had seemed faked as she'd answered, "I took an earlier flight on a whim and believe me when I say; I won't be regretting it anytime soon."

Frowning over the strange statement, Liz had finished her breakfast quickly and spent the rest of the morning with her grandmother.

Back in the present, Liz groaned and all but pummeled her pillow as she kept trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. She knew that her lack of sleepiness wasn't because of her stupid pillow, but more about the fact that she just knew her beloved grandmother, the one person she'd always been able to count on, was must definitely keeping some sort of secret from her.

Of course, it's a bit hypocritical for me to complain, Liz thought, throwing the abused pillow to the floor and settling down once again, I have my own secrets now too…

The entire day had gone by with Liz reconnecting with her grandmother, only to notice that for once, the charismatic woman wasn't completely in the now. Something was bothering her and finally, just a few minutes before Kyle was due to pick her up, Liz had dragged Claudia into her room and asked if something was wrong.

Her grandmother's eyes, so like her own, had taken on an innocent look that didn't fool Liz in the slightest. "Honey, I don't know why you're worrying so much about little ol' me. I'm just focused on my book signing next month and your future love life of course."

"Grandma," Liz had practically pleaded, "you can trust me. I just want to help any way I can."

There was a sad look in Claudia's eyes, but her voice was as light and cheerful as always as she'd replied, "I appreciate that, Sugar, but don't go making mountains out of molehills on my account. Go enjoy your evening with your young man."

Liz had instantly protested having a relationship with the Sheriff's son and it was only after she'd exited the house that she realized that she'd been derailed from her questions.

And then she'd begun her evening with Kyle and to be fair, it had started out nicely enough…

Suddenly, there was a knock on her window and all thoughts about her day flew out of her mind. Liz sat up and glanced over at the window; she could only make out a vague silhouette but somehow she just knew that it was Max.

The moment the realization hit her, Liz was torn between mortification that the guy she barely acknowledged as her crush was about to see her in her PJ's and fierce, unaltered joy that he still sought her out despite her earlier anger.

A few seconds later, Liz was at the window and she quickly opened it with a small smile. "Hi Max."

Max's eyes looked dimmer than usual and Liz understood that he still thought she was angry at him. After all, he can't feel my emotions anymore, she thought to herself.

"I just wanted to have a quick word," Max explained in the awkward silence that had arisen, "I didn't want to call and risk waking you or your parents."

"So," Liz said with an attempt at humor, "you decided to creep over here and stare through my window in the middle of the night? 'Cause that's not creepy at all."

Max chuckled sheepishly and ran a hand through his dark hair. He stepped back, making room for Liz to follow him out onto the balcony. "I guess you're right about that. But I really did want to talk to you…"

Liz grabbed her robe and swung it over her shoulders before making her way outside. All her previous concern about her grandmother was forgotten as her observant eyes noticed the dark shadows under Max's eyes and the almost guilty look that was shining through all of the sudden.

"What's wrong, Max?"

Max looked up at the starry sky for a long minute without replying and Liz took the opportunity to admire his neck. Who knew a guy's neck could be so…sensual? She wondered and then flinched when Max finally started to speak.

"Firstly, I wanted to apologize for trying to control you and," he paused briefly as though the words were painful to say, "You have every right to go out with whomever you wish."

"Okay," Liz agreed, happy that he seemed willing to put the matter behind them and forget her childish overreaction. "What else did you want to talk about?"

Max leaned up against the nearest wall, he sent a weird look at a place on the brick wall that Liz couldn't quite decipher. His hands absentmindedly traced out the form of a heart and Liz crossed her arms and for the first time felt the loss of the bond first hand. I wonder what he's thinking about? He seems really intense right now.

"Max?" Liz urged him back to the present and he turned back to her with another slightly sheepish smile.

"I wanted to explain about the whole thing with Kyle's friends…"

The words caused Liz's memory of her earlier casual date with Kyle to emerge and she sighed, remembering once again just why she'd been in such a depressing mood before Max's arrival.

Kyle had picked her up as per their agreement and Liz had tried to overlook the fact that Kyle was dressed way more formally than he should be to keep things casual.

"Hi Kyle," she'd greeted politely and Kyle's answering smile had been yet another warning that, no matter how he'd phrased it when asking, he clearly expected things to be a bit more date like than Liz was comfortable with.

A few minutes later, they'd arrived at the local movie theater. Liz had once again ignored her own instincts when Kyle had bought tickets to a romantic comedy. She'd even fought past her feelings of uneasiness when Kyle had insisted on paying for everything no matter how much she'd objected.

During the movie, Liz had gone to the restroom a grand total of eight times to escape Kyle's wandering arm around her shoulders. Finally the movie was over and Liz had overruled Kyle's attempt at going to eat anywhere else then the Crashdown.

When they'd walked inside a little while later, Liz's eyes had immediately scanned the area to make sure someone (Max!) didn't see and get the wrong idea. Not that she had anything to feel the least bit guilty for, she repeated inwardly as she'd been doing the entire evening.

Maria had been their waitress and Liz might have engaged in pointless girl talk for a little longer than was strictly necessary until their food had arrived. As Maria walked away, Liz had not been blind to the mixture of annoyance and exasperation in Kyle's eyes.

She'd decided to try to steer things back on the friendship road that she'd thought had been the whole point of the evening in the first place. "So, how are things going with you?"

Kyle had lit up at her so called interest and immediately started talking about his team's upcoming match the upcoming weekend. When he'd slowed down a bit to take a huge bite of his burger, Liz had gone over ways to politely remind him that they could never be more than friends. She had refused to acknowledge the small part of her that told her that Max might have had a point to begin with concerning Kyle.

All thoughts about being polite evaporated, when Kyle had mentioned Max with a half-hearted sneer on his face, "I'm actually glad we went here tonight. At first, I didn't want to, 'cause I might have lost it if I'd ran into Evans, but I'm glad."

"What are you talking about?" Liz had leaned forward, suddenly anxious. She hadn't liked the sudden sour look in Kyle's eyes.

Kyle had finished off his soda before leaning forward himself to answer quietly, "Well, some of my friends ran into him last night and he went all postal on them. Beat the crap out of them, with some judo tricks or whatever. My buddy Johnny had to get fourteen stitches. So I need to find him sometime and let him know that nobody hurts my friends."

Liz had gripped the table so hard that she was vaguely surprised that her fingers didn't leave marks on it. "Why would Max do something like that? What happened?"

Kyle had shrugged, "I don't know. Johnny said they were just walking by and before they knew it, they were getting their ass- Well, it wasn't pretty."

Liz had been confused. "It doesn't sound like something Max would do. I mean, he's not a violent person and-"

"Oh yes he is, Liz!" Kyle's voice had risen and Liz had noticed how Maria stepped out from the backroom, with her protective, "don't hurt my best friend-face" on, but Liz had waved her off discreetly.

Liz had felt her anger grow, eager to defend the guy that had saved her life. This anger was nothing like the one she'd somehow fed off of Max earlier; no this was pure hers.

"Did you ever ask your buddy why Max, who's normally the most passive aggressive guy in school, and have been ever since he showed up in Roswell, felt the need to act the way he did? Also, why would Johnny and the rest of them even go near Max in the first place? Come on, Kyle, even you should be able to see that your story has some holes in it. Max Evans has never done anything without reason and I doubt he'd be starting now. And if you can't see that, I really can't see us being friends at all because no friend of mine, would think violence is okay! Goodbye!"

She'd stormed away from the table, leaving Kyle with a truly dumbstruck expression on his face, and gone up to the bedroom.

Of course, Liz sighed to herself, that's when I spotted Grandma sitting quietly in the living room with the lights off, looking serious and troubled. And when I tried talking to her again, she smiled that fake smile of hers and went to bed herself… When did my life get so complicated?

"Liz?"

Liz flinched and stumbled backwards, but Max's strong arm wrapped around her and straightened her up. Before she even realized it, Max had released her and stepped back a few steps.

"I'm sorry, Max," Liz apologized, "I guess, I'm a little more tired than I thought… so you were saying?"

Max's lips quirked in a tiny smile and he sat down in one of the chairs available. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't angry about the thing with Kyle's friends and the rest of it. I felt we needed some closure of sorts."

Liz copied him and sat down in front of him. She looked him deep into his eyes and for the first time the whole day, she felt at peace. All her anger, an anger she'd come to realize had originated from the boy in front of her, was gone. Her annoyance over her grandmother, and her own guilt over her hypocrisy was gone. Even her irritation at Kyle was completely nonexistent in that moment.

"I'm not angry, Max. I know that the thing with those guys probably has another side to it and that Kyle only has their side of things." Liz eventually said, remembering that she was in fact in the middle of a conversation and not alone to ponder her thoughts. "And I'm sorry for overreacting like I did at the Crashdown. I think I might have hurt your feelings, and that was never my intention."

Max raised a teasing eyebrow and Liz amended with a soft chuckle, "okay, not my whole intention. I was mad and I know it stemmed from you and then I lost my own temper and one thing led to another and even though I'm not ready to open the bond again just yet," Liz pretended not to see the crushed hope in Max's eyes as she continued gently, "I really would like it if we could be friends."

There was a long silence before Max sighed and said barely audible, "I'll take what I can get."

With some effort, Liz reminded herself of Kyle's story and decided to ask Max for his side of the unbelievable tale and she looked up, only to freeze.

The warmth in Max's brown gaze as he looked intently at her, made Liz's face burn and she looked down, trying to catch her breath again.

"I'd better go now. I'll see you in school. Goodnight Liz."

There was a slight movement and a second later, all Liz was able to think about was the feeling of two warm lips touching her forehead ever so gently. When she managed to look up again, Max was gone.

Liz walked as in a daze back into her bedroom, grabbed her journal and proceeded to write down every last bit of her day. When she finally went to sleep, Liz's mind wasn't full of the growing complications of impending adulthood, or annoying ex-boyfriends. All she thought about was the fact that Max Evans had actually, almost, sort of kissed her.

"This day hasn't been completely bad after all," Liz muttered sleepily, not noticing that her door was open and Claudia was standing there looking both happy and worried at the same time.

Claudia's POV

It was supposed to be a vacation, a trip to get some peace of mind. Her doctor had bullied her for a long time until she'd succumbed and agreed to visit her son and his family, preparing to publish her book. All in all; an attempt to rest up beforehand so her darn heart wouldn't act up and quit on her before she was good and ready.

She sighed quietly and carefully closed the door to her beloved grandchild's bedroom and walked down the stairs and outside into the night. The streetlight next to the diner's backdoor was blinding her for a brief moment, but when she'd blinked out of it, she spotted her grandchild's earlier guest standing stationary on the other side of the door.

"Weren't you going home?" she asked casually, wrapping her shall around her shoulders. Dying from a weak heart or not, an old lady like her still needed to avoid getting colds.

Max stepped out of the shadows and smiled a small smile. "I knew you were there and figured you wanted to talk a bit more."

Claudia smirked, crossing her arms to seem imposing, "Well, yeah. I'm glad you didn't rat me out to Liz, she would most definitely not have enjoyed being interrupted by her ol' Grandma. As for the talking bit, shouldn't you wait until the other two get here?"

Max shrugged, "They don't know you. They never met you before so they let me decide whether or not I wanted to talk to you some more."

"Seeing as you pretty much told me everything last night in that alley," Claudia shrugged herself, "I just wanted to know if you were planning on doing any of that mind control thing that make you forget seeing things to me? I mean, that's what usually happens on TV."

She watched the seemingly teenage boy rub his neck tiredly before he answered, "Even if I could, I would never do that."

Claudia sighed and tried to ignore the quick stab of pain in her chest. She had been so caught up in her head the entire day that she hadn't remembered to take any of her medication and now she was paying the price. "I'm happy to hear that. Now, why don't you tell me the real reason you showed up here tonight? I know you say you wanted to allow me to hear more of your unbelievable story, but I'm not buying it."

Max stiffened briefly and Claudia just knew she'd been right on the money and she continued with a little smug smile, "Unless of course, you're using me as an excuse to go stare into Liz's bedroom way over any civilized bedtime."

Oh good, Claudia couldn't suppress a tiny grin from spreading, he can blush.

Max tried to act like his face hadn't just turned crimson and straightened up slightly. To Claudia's surprise, he suddenly looked a lot older. "I came because I wanted to ask you to go to a doctor as soon as possible. You're in danger of a heart attack."

Despite the seriousness, Claudia laughed. Even to her ears, the sound was bitter. "Trust me, Son, there isn't anything any of this town's doctors could say or do to me that would help me in the long run. But I appreciate the concern."

Max blinked, he looked genuinely mystified by her response for a short minute. Then Claudia watched his face darken and without thinking about it, she took a step back. "You mean to tell me that you knew all along that you were sick? Do you have any idea what your death did to Liz?"

Claudia's heart jumped, and again she battled the stab of pain, "Nice way of letting and old woman know of her impending death. Really, young man, ever heard of caution?"

Max didn't seem to appreciate her attempt at humor and she bit her lip. "I don't know what happened to me in your time, but from what you are implying I reckon it isn't something good."

Suddenly, Claudia gasped, her heart started racing as though it wanted to escape her chest and she quickly sat down on an empty crate near the door and tried to catch her breath.

"Mrs. Parker?" Max's voice was no longer dark, but concerned and full of youth. "Are you all right? Should I call anyone?"

"I'll-be-fine-in-a-minute," she spat out and tried taking in a soothing breath, praying her heart's escape wouldn't succeed.

This was bad, Claudia instinctively knew. There was already an unusual pain in her arms, her sight was spotty and she really, really didn't want to die.

Out of the corner of her eye, Claudia saw Max move and all of the sudden there was a pleasant warmth spreading from her chest area out to her whole body. It was like drinking a warm cup of cocoa after being out in the cold all day.

Looking down, she noticed Max had somehow found it necessary to place his hand on her chest, right over her heart and she saw a faint, unearthly glow emanate from his hand. If she hadn't already known about his out of Earth genes, this would have seriously freaked her out.

After a seemingly never ending minute, Max removed his hand and ran it through his hair with a loud sigh. Claudia, on the other hand, never felt better. She took a deep breath, half expecting her body to constrict in spite. But the air went in her lungs as easily as it had in her pre illness days.

She looked down at the kneeling youth in front of her and without thinking she grabbed him and pulled him into an embrace. "Whatever it was you just did. Thank you."

To say that Max didn't respond well to her touch was an understatement. The poor boy froze like she was putting him under torture. It took a while, but seeing as Claudia refused to release him, he slowly relaxed and then suddenly his arms went around her and he was hugging her like his whole life depended on it.

After a while, Max pulled back. His face was crimson again and he wouldn't look her in the eyes. Claudia frowned. "I'm not mad at you," she stated. "Like I said, I'm very grateful. I haven't felt this good in years. Also a good hug never hurt anybody."

Max's eyes met hers at that statement and he muttered quietly, "Let me know in a few years if you still feel the same." He went on to explain something about his healing's side effect being that she would eventually develop some form of power herself.

"I'm not gonna look a gifted horse in the mouth here, but why did you heal me if it apparently is such a bad thing in your opinion? You could just as easily have gotten me to the hospital and let things take its natural course."

Max's solemn dark eyes didn't waver one inch as he said, "I might not be fully human, but not even I am that inhumane. I couldn't let you die right in front of me. Liz would never forgive me."

Claudia chuckled, shook her head with mock hurt. "So you only helped an old lady because you didn't want her grandchild to be sad? I'm touched, really I am."

Max smiled ruefully and for a moment, Claudia could most definitely understand why this young man got her intelligent grandchild's heart racing. "No, that's not…I didn't mean it like that Mrs. Parker."

"Considering what we've been through since meeting yesterday, and what you just did for me, I think you should call me Claudia."

"Okay…Claudia." Max replied, helping her to her feet. "It's getting late; I should be going home. I hope you'll keep your promise and not tell Liz about the time travelling. That's one part of the story she hasn't gotten yet."

Claudia nodded and cupped Max's cheek, "You bet. But I think I'll let my knowledge of your origins slip sometime so she knows that she can always come to me with her worries. And you can too. I'll always be there to help you and the others if it's possible. Good night Max and thanks again."

The young man echoed her nod and stepped away and slipped into the darkness, leaving her alone to try and come to terms with what had just taken place.

Claudia couldn't quite stop the unladylike snort from escaping as she imagined how her doctor would act at their next consultation. "Well, Doctor Jensen, you see, I'm feeling mighty fine now because my grandchild's love interest is a time travelling alien that somehow healed my insides and fixed my heart right up. Thanks for advising me to have a nice peaceful vacation…"

With a heavy sigh, Claudia got back inside and went up to the guestroom that Nancy and Jeff had prepared for her. One quick glance at the clock told her that it would be light soon, so she didn't want to spend too long preparing for bed again. She settled on brushing her teeth, because her own momma always said that one shouldn't go to bed with unwashed teeth. As Claudia rinsed her mouth, she noticed something odd in the small amount of visible skin of her chest. With a frown, she buttoned up her nightgown and then gasped.

There was a glowing handprint right where Max had placed his warm hand. Claudia traced the mark carefully, wondering for just one tiny second if she'd gotten into something she really shouldn't have, but then she scoffed. Closing her gown again, she went to bed. Not only have Max saved my life, but he saved Liz and for that I'm willing to go to the gates of Hell before I turn my back on him; any of them.

Having settled her own, unspoken fears, Claudia fell asleep with a tiny smile on her lips.

Michael's POV

"What do you think it will be like now?" Isabel asked for the tenth time, fidgeting in the middle of the room.

Michael looked up from the comic book, he was pretending to read and answered just as cautiously as he'd done the other nine times, "I don't know."

Before Isabel could continue with her pacing around her bedroom, there was a quiet knock on the door and Max entered.

Michael immediately threw the comic book away and stood up, but Isabel was even faster in her own way. "What happened? Did you talk to her? Is she still willing to keep quiet? I really don't want to hurt and old lady, Max."

Michael watched curiously as Max avoided Isabel's eyes as he answered that the eldest Parker would not betray them.

For some peculiar reason, Michael didn't doubt it. In fact, unlike Isabel, Michael had barely managed to scrounge up any worry about the whole thing to begin with. There was just something about Claudia Parker that made him want to trust her. A feat no one, but his close circle of friends had ever gotten out of him before.

Ever since Claudia Parker had announced her presence in the alley, he'd watched silently as she took in Max's words. Not once did the old woman act like a normal old woman. She barely batted an eye over the alien thing, let alone the whole time travelling deal. After they'd made sure that the kids that Max beat up were safely out of earshot, she'd demanded the full story and stood calmly as it washed over her.

Michael had had a sudden realization about from whom Liz got her silent strength. Isabel of course, had been a nervous wreck ever since they'd escorted Mrs. Parker to the Parker residence. They all knew that if despite everything, Mrs. Parker decided to reveal her knowledge to the wrong people they would have to do something and no matter how many people they'd killed in their old lives, none of them wanted to murder Liz's beloved grandmother.

"What do you think Michael?" Isabel's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he looked over at the siblings.

"About what?"

Isabel rolled her eyes, "Don't you ever listen? I swear it's like going back in time has made you just as inattentive as you were before the war."

"Thank you. Now," Michael smirked, "what do I think about what?"

Max walked over and sat down on Isabel's bed. "She wants to know what you think about me healing Liz's grandmother."

"Tell me you didn't." Michael said and sat down next to his best friend, who looked oddly at ease. "Do you want The Special Unit to come here? We have enough on our hands with Topolsky."

"I know. I couldn't just let her die in front of me. I don't want to be that guy that has to choose whether to save someone or let them die anymore. I just know that we can trust her, so please…" Max paused and looked first at Isabel and then at Michael with such naked emotion in his eyes that Michael could feel his eyes burn, "Please just trust me. I beg you."

Michael caught Isabel's eyes and noticed the same unshed tears in hers that he could feel burning in his. After a moment, she nodded mutely and sat down on the other side of Max and Michael clapped him on the back. "Let's go to sleep Maxwell. We'll worry about everything when we're more levelheaded. "

The relief and gratitude shining on Max's usually so reserved face did nothing to lessen the burn in Michael's eyes, so he quickly muttered goodnight and walked into Max's bedroom and laid down on the sleeping bag that he'd prepared earlier.

Instantly, all thoughts about Mrs. Parker, the unexpected healing and all of those things went away. Instead his mind filled up with the one thing he could never deny himself; Maria. He closed his eyes and pictured her as she'd looked that night by her window. He tested his bond with her and could feel her sleepy, calm response and smiled.

I'm gonna ask her out in school tomorrow. I am done waiting…

0o0o0o0

Monday morning, Michael practically jumped out of Max's jeep the second it stopped in the parking lot at the school. He ignored his fellow hybrids puzzled looks and went in search of Maria. Unfortunately she was sitting together with Liz and Alex when he finally found her in the first class of the day.

He knew he'd never been one for the big gestures and words. Oh, he could if he absolutely had to. Treasured memories of a night with Scooby Doo plates and a homemade meal came to mind, but he never really loved doing them.

Come on, Michael said to himself, she's not gonna kill me if she says no. That just means that I have to work harder. Besides, I bet she won't be too mean if Liz is around…

Having talked some courage into himself, Michael quickly made his way through the room and settled into a seat at the table next to Maria. "Mornin'."

Maria turned slowly from her conversation with Liz. He could see the nervousness in her eyes and feel it through their bond. "Hello Michael," she greeted carefully. "Did you want anything?"

Michael's gaze darted over to Liz, who was watching with a knowing smile on her lips. Alex was looking from Maria to him with confusion, but remained silent. "Well," Michael started to say, his heart in his throat, "I was just wondering if-"

"Good morning class," their teacher interrupted. Something that normally wouldn't deter Michael from finishing asking out the woman he loved, but the young female standing next to the teacher managed to halt him in his self appointed mission.

Tess Harding had finally arrived in Roswell.

0o0o0o0o0

Michael never managed to finish asking out Maria. Ever since Tess had walked in to the classroom, he'd been staring at the fourth alien as discreetly as he could. Maria kept glancing over at him with a frown; apparently she felt his inner turmoil but couldn't understand it.

Michael had barely had to look at Max and Isabel to know what they were feeling. Despite having initiated contact in the first place, it was clear that Tess's arrival had brought back some unpleasant memories.

Isabel kept following Alex around whenever he wasn't around Liz or Maria, looking for all the world like she would protect him with everything she had. Max was a bit harder to interpret as he simply kept his head down and diligently took notes.

When lunch came around, the trio settled down at a table and tried eating their food without throwing it up immediately afterwards.

A few minutes later, Tess entered the quad with her own, red lunch tray. They were all frozen as they watched the pretty, curly haired blond walk by. She looked timid and nervous; not at all like the betraying female they'd come to know her as. No, Michael calmed himself; she hasn't done anything like that yet…

Taking a deep breath, he looked over at his fellow hybrids. Isabel had turned her head down, letting her long hair shield her face, but Michael could practically feel the hate flowing off of her. She didn't say anything though, and continued to eat her apple quietly.

Michael's eyes slid over to Max; his mood had been off ever since she stepped foot in their class, so this would probably not do anything to help him. To his surprise, Michael didn't sense any anger on Max's face. In fact he didn't sense a damned thing.

Max was staring straight ahead with his blank mask firmly in place. The sight of it didn't really bring Michael comfort, knowing that he only wore that expression when he was trying desperately not to do something.

"Maxwell? Are you okay?"

Max nodded and seemingly shook off his gloom. He reached out for his soda, but before taking a sip, he suddenly spoke. "Michael, I need you to promise me one thing and one thing only." Max's eyes briefly landed on the unknowing Tess.

Michael rolled his eyes. Of course, he'll try to caution us one more time… "What," he said instead of complaining, "to behave around Tess; don't worry, I won't kill her."

To Michael's, and the now watching Isabel's, surprise, Max didn't react visibly to Michael's promise. He simply took a sip of his soda before saying calmly without looking at him, "no, that's not it, Michael. I want you to keep me from hurting her."

Isabel flinched noticeably at the sudden increase of danger emanating from Max, he had briefly transformed in to the killing monster from their dark future. Michael looked at his best friend with shock; too used to the Max, who'd never really wanted to hurt any of his friends or the mother of his now never to be born child.

"Max?"

Max finally blinked out of his cold mask and met Michael's stare head on as he explained gently, "Keep me from taking her, torturing her for fourteen days, five hours and fifty three minutes, before healing her and starting all over again like Khivar did to me because of her betrayal. Promise me, that you'll help me from letting the hate I have for her and Nasedo overwhelm me so we can build a new relationship with them and possibly salvage our lives here in Roswell. I'm not interested in fighting another war."

Michael swallowed roughly and nodded after a heartbeat of silence. "Sure Max. Changing things is good. Like with Mrs. Parker; befriending Tess will be good…Right Iz?"

Isabel's eyes were locked on Alex, who was busy strumming his guitar over in one of the corners of the quad. "Yeah…no more wars, I agree. But if they even think about hurting Alex, I'll show them what I learned in the one I did participate in."

Michael nodded; he felt the exact same thing regarding Maria. "Noted. Now, will any of you give me some pointers on how to ask Maria out?"

TBC…


	10. Max, Isabel and Michael

CHAPTER TEN

Max's POV

It was just after a fairly uneventful school day when he stopped the jeep near the entrance of the Indian reservation. The sun was shining warmly down on them, telling them that summer wasn't too far away. Out of the corner of his eye, Max could see Isabel glance hesitantly at the small group of people standing with big smiles as they tried to sell their merchandise to visitors.

"I never thought I'd see this place again," Michael muttered and got out of the jeep as the first one, "last time I was here, I was a little out of it and the time before that I nearly coughed out my lungs in that damned ritual thing."

Max nodded and followed Michael out of the car, albeit in a slower pace. "Me neither, but we need those stones. Especially since Nasedo has arrived. We might need them sometime soon. We can't keep relying on my healing powers."

Isabel snorted and finally got out of the jeep as the last one. Her dark brown eyes were full of contempt as she stated, "Call me self-centered, but I doubt I'd be willing to use the stones on that backstabbing son of a-"

"Hello, may I interest you in some homemade jewelry?" A kind, female voice sounded behind the trio and they immediately spun around. Apparently their faces gave off their tenseness and annoyance because the poor woman quickly took a few steps back and muttered an apology with downcast eyes.

Max met Isabel's and Michael's eyes and could see they felt a bit shamed about their lack of control and without a word they all quickly walked further into the reservation.

Michael took the lead, being the one who'd actually been inside the grounds. Isabel walked closely behind him, eying the other people present warily while Max stayed a few steps behind, making sure no one paid them too much attention.

As they walked in silence, Max's mind dwelled on the new arrival in their lives. Tess. He still remembered looking up the day before in class and seeing her for the first time since she went and blew herself up to save Zan. Instantly his insides had been burning with a deep, almost wounding hatred and he was honestly happy that Liz had refused their bond and couldn't feel him at that moment.

I was the one who sent for her and Nasedo, Max rationalized, not for the first time, and we'll all go to Nasedo's house tonight to speak to him face to face. The quicker we act the less time he has to settle in and start scheming.

Suddenly, Max bumped into Isabel and only then realizing that the other two had stopped. Blinking back into the present, Max spotted a young man that he vaguely remembered as the man that had led Liz and him to the healing stones. We were so young then, he reminisced with a soft sigh, while simultaneously trying to remember the man's name.

Michael glanced back at him quickly before asking the older man where to find River Dog.

The guy's eyes narrowed and he looked at them one by one, his eyes staying just a hint longer on Max than on the others. "Who wants to know?" he finally asked, crossing his arms.

`Let me try´ Isabel's finger gently touched Max's arm and a second later, she stepped forward with a huge, flirtatious smile on her full lips.

"We're just doing a project about the Native Americans in school and well…" she looked down, trying to look bashful and eager at the same time, "we heard from someone that this man, River Dog, is supposedly an expert on all the legends and stuff. Is that okay? Do you think he'd mind? I really hope not, because these guys," Isabel pointed briefly at Max and Michael, "are complete losers that would rather spend their time playing videogames than do any kind of real schoolwork so I'll be stuck with a lot of work if I can't interview someone in the know. Please Mister; I'll be really thankful for your help."

Even Max, who still remembered fondly how easily Isabel could manipulate boys of all ages ever since childhood, held his breath while the older guy stood immobile for what seemed like forever. Then Max released the air in his lungs in a sigh of relief when the other man smiled a little bit and gave his consent.

"I'll take you to him, but it's not certain that he's gonna want to talk to you. River Dog is a very busy man. I'm Eddie by the way."

Isabel nodded and rewarded her newest victim with a beaming smile and slid her arm through his as they started walking. Max met Michael's amused eyes with a shrug and they hurried to follow after their devious sister.

It didn't take more than a few minutes of walking, before Eddie stopped outside a worn down building that looked more like a child's attempt at carpentry than an actual house. "He's in there," Eddie announced and knocked on the frail looking door before entering.

Michael and Isabel looked back at Max when he didn't move immediately. Isabel shook her head so her long hair fell in a wave down her back and said, "It was your idea, Max, so you go first."

"Michael's the only one who ever really spent time with him," Max protested, but Michael simply crossed his arms and raised a mocking eyebrow until Max sighed and followed Eddie inside.

It was dark, but Max's eyes adjusted to the different lighting fairly quickly. The elderly man, River Dog that Max vaguely remembered, was sitting at a cluttered desk. His entire face was etched in concentration as he was apparently busy writing something with a bright, pink pen.

Max's eyebrows went upwards when his eyes landed on the pen. It wasn't exactly something he'd ever imagined that the older man had in his possession. Apparently, Max's stare had alerted River Dog to their presence, because he looked up with a start.

If Max hadn't spent the last years of his past life learning to take in details in a single glance, he would have missed the way River Dog's eyes narrowed a fraction in suspicion like Eddie's had done earlier. Was he always so suspicious of us? Max wondered, or is it just because we're strangers in general?

It didn't even last a second, before River Dog's lined face melted into a good-natured grin and he gestured down at the pink pen in his hand. "Awful thing, isn't it? I got it from my granddaughter at my last birthday and she insists that I use it every time I write to her. Well," River Dog sighed briefly and put away the pen, "I have only myself to blame. I acted a bit too happy when I got it, so I must endure until she inevitably turns her affections towards another color. I just hope it will happen sooner rather than later."

Max kept his face carefully friendly and smiled. He noticed that Isabel and Michael were copying him. Eddie stepped forward and spoke to River Dog in their native tongue. Again, Max's keen observational skills made sure he didn't miss the quick pointed stare in both his and Michael's direction.

I don't remember them acting like this before, Max thought again. He took a small step to the side and let his hand brush against Isabel's. 'What do you think they're saying about us?'

'I have no idea, but Michael just said that they seem to be very interested in you two and not me'. Isabel replied a few seconds later.

Max thought back to the time when he'd first met River Dog and had a tentative theory. Again his hand touched Isabel's casually. 'It could because he knew that Nasedo was a male and he wants to make sure that we're not like him; that we're just humans. Remember how he put Michael through that test?'

Isabel relayed Max's thoughts to Michael, whose eyes widened marginally before he turned his head towards Max and nodded a fraction in obvious agreement.

The whole silent conversation hadn't taken more than a few seconds and now Max turned his full attention back on River Dog. The old man was still talking quietly with Eddie, but his face was looking welcoming and no longer reserved. Maybe Iz's story has convinced them that we're just three normal high school students, Max thought.

"Well, sorry about that," River Dog exclaimed several moments later and watched as Eddie made his way back outside to do whatever he had been doing before being intercepted so effortlessly by Isabel, "forgive an old man for making sure I knew what you wanted in such a rude manner."

"You know," Isabel drawled and raised an eyebrow, "you could just have asked."

River Dog glanced at her, but it was clear that he had no regrets over what he'd done. Isabel opened her mouth to reply, but in the next instant, both Max and Michael had placed their hands on her wrist. 'Don't make the guy angry,' Michael demanded. 'Let's follow the plan and get a move on.'

Max agreed with Michael and then took a deep breath before stepping forward to River Dog to do as they'd planned all along. "River Dog, I'm sorry for doing this to you, but we are in a hurry and can't afford to wait. I need the stones and I know you have them."

River Dog's tanned face paled as the implications of Max's statement became clear and he got to his feet with an agility that didn't match his age. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Don't," Max said, raising his hands in a placating manner. "We're not here to hurt you or yours. We simply need the stones."

"I will not help a murderer," the old man hissed, showing a much more emotional side than Max ever recalled seeing in his earlier life.

"Look Old Man," Michael suddenly spoke, his entire demeanor clearly showing that he did not appreciate the insult, "like Max said; we're in a hurry, we aren't evil, so pipe down and give us the damn stones. They belong to us."

Max had the insane urge to chuckle. Trust Michael to get right to the point at a time like this. Outwardly, he settled for saying a gentle as he could, "We are not gonna let Nasedo win, so we need what is rightfully ours."

River Dog's intelligent eyes went from Michael to Max when he heard that. "Nasedo? You are not him, but you know of him? You are not with him?"

Max crossed his arms and answered truthfully, "We know him and no, we are not with him. I give you my word that we have no intention of doing anything that isn't justified. Will you give us the stones?"

Not for the first time, Max berated himself for not remembering the way to the cave where Liz and he had gotten the healing stones in the original timeline. Going to River Dog to simply request for them had been his own idea, but right now, he was no longer sure it was such a great one.

River Dog kept silent for a long minute, he simply stared intently at them all, one by one. Max remained motionless, Michael copied Max's stance and crossed his arms and Isabel fidgeted uncomfortably as the tension rose.

Half an hour later, the hybrids left the Indian reservation with a small pouch that was filled with the stones they'd requested. Max started the jeep and they drove back to the Evans residence to prepare for their next big issue; Confronting Nasedo.

At least now we have the stones, Max thought grimly, let's just hope that things go as smoothly tonight…

Isabel's POV

"Can I just say one last time that I'm not happy about this," Isabel said in a near whisper as she followed the two male hybrids up the small path to Nasedo's house.

It was dark, but the light from the windows gave off an intimidating aura that made the hairs in the back of her neck stand out. Isabel was no coward, but still; she was not feeling particularly at ease either.

Max stopped and waited for her to catch up. "I know that, Iz. None of us are, but we need them in our corner. Nasedo has avoided the law for decades and his shape shifting ability is the only way we can destroy the special unit from within without jeopardizing ourselves like before. It doesn't mean that we have to be best friends with either of them."

"I know," Isabel sighed and straightened up, putting on her emotionless mask that she'd mastered in the war. "Lead the way."

They walked as a united front to the door and Michael knocked twice. He looks just as tense as I feel, Isabel thought, clenching her fists as they heard someone walk towards the door.

A few seconds later, the door was opened and Tess Harding stood before them. Isabel bit the inside of her lip so hard that she could taste blood in her struggle to remain unemotional on the outside.

Tess' admittedly pretty face frowned in confusion at the sight of them. Don't act so surprised, Blondie, Isabel thought coldly, Nasedo has been keeping tabs on us our whole lives, so you must already know how we look like. Don't bother with the innocent act.

"Err…Hello, may I help you?" Tess eventually asked when neither of the remaining hybrids spoke.

"We need to talk to your guardian," Max stated blankly, his voice completely devoid of emotions.

"I'm sorry," Tess tilted her head with a friendly smile, "my dad is really busy right now. He's only just beginning to catch up at his new job, so he's really tired. But, if you leave me your names and number, I promise, I'll get him to call you."

Isabel gritted her teeth and was about to spit out something none too ladylike, but Michael stepped forward a bit and sent her a warning look. I'm sorry I'm so confrontational, Isabel thought to out to the other hybrids, but whenever I see her I just want to bash her head in…

Isabel managed to send a grateful smile in Michael's direction before she snapped her attention back to her brother when he finally answered Tess.

"You can tell your dad that Rath, Vilandra and Zan are here and we demand to talk to him immediately."

Tess' eyes widened so much that Isabel wondered if her eyes were about to pop out of her head. "Z-Zan?" she stuttered and looked between them as though trying to absorb their features in her memory. "Vilandra and -and Rath?" Evidently, she hadn't counted on them knowing their origins in such detail.

"Yes, Ava" Max said, his eyes cool, "Get Nasedo, we need to speak with him."

Tess quickly spun around and in her befuddlement; she simply closed the door in their faces. It didn't take more than a minute before the door was reopened and the visage of Mr. Harding was standing in the doorway, looking, if not as much then very close to it, as flustered as his charge.

However, he quickly regained his control with a blink of his eyes. Isabel's upper lip curled in distaste. This was the person, whose behind the scene activities had led to Tess' betrayal and ultimately Alex's death. If he makes one wrong move, I'll show him what the Ice Queen is capable of. I can get very creative…

"Hello," Nasedo greeted them with an amiable smile. Maybe it was just Isabel, but she thought she saw a spark of genuine unease in the alien's eyes. "This is truly a surprise. Come on in."

Michael walked in first, his large frame tensed noticeably as he passed Nasedo. Isabel went next. She fought down the temptation to give in to her childish urge to bump roughly into Tess, who was standing slightly behind Nasedo and watching them all with confusion. Max entered the house last and he immediately walked over to Isabel's side, thus making sure that she was covered from both sides.

Oh please, the female hybrid thought with an internal huff, while simultaneously ignoring the tiny part of her that was actually thankful for their protection, I've killed and fought just as much as you two have…

"Can I offer you something to drink?" Nasedo was the picture of politeness, but Isabel couldn't quite hold back a shudder of discomfort when the old alien closed the door behind them with a quiet snap.

Max looked over at Isabel and she saw the struggle he was having with himself to remain calm and collected so she answered Nasedo instead, "No thanks. We're not here to chit chat. We came here tonight to ask for your cooperation in a matter of great importance."

Michael took over when Isabel didn't quite know how to continue. "There's a man you need to become and dispose of to prevent them from finding out about us."

This time, Nasedo's surprise lasted a bit longer than a second and he walked over to Tess as he stared hard at Michael. "Really? I must admit that, given your life up until now, I'm amazed. I'd expected you three children to be wary of death and its ugly sides."

"Well, we're not," Michael's abruptness was oddly enough soothing on Isabel's nerves and she took over again.

"What he means to say is; we're well aware of the dangers The Special Unit represents. There's already an agent at the school digging around. We can't do anything to her because it'd be too obvious. She's merely a foot soldier anyway and we want you to go to the top and put a dent in the Unit's credibility."

Nasedo's eyes narrowed and he stared at Isabel with such intensity that she had to force herself to remain where she was. "You're not at all what I expected, Vilandra."

"Her name is Isabel. We only used the other names to get your attention." Michael all but sneered and Nasedo nodded once in understanding. His eyes showed that he was not in the least bit frazzled now that he'd overcome his initial surprise.

"Of course. I meant no disrespect. Well, back to business then. I have come here after receiving your message and as you can see, I've brought the last of the Royal Four. She likes to be called Tess, isn't that right?"

Tess smiled, and if Isabel didn't know better, she'd say that the look in her eyes was one of delight. Was she as happy to be reunited with us in our former life? I can't remember; I was too freaked out thinking I was carrying Michael's kid at the time.

The memory of what Isabel now knew to be the very first time, Tess had mindwarped her, brought back a fresh wave of anger. Her anger was derailed into genuine shock a moment later, when Nasedo spoke again.

"Although I respect your idea, I must decline. I have no intention of going undercover. I have my own system and it's worked pretty well so far. I will, however, take care of the before mentioned foot soldier and leave a fresh trail to confuse her peers. That reminds me," Nasedo's polite tone turned judgmental as he looked into Max's eerie blank eyes. "What in the world were you thinking when you decided to risk everything for a mere human? It would have been better if you'd just left the girl to die."

Oh, no. Isabel bit her lip, knowing that Nasedo had just committed a huge mistake. She quickly stepped closer to her brother, seeing out of the corner of her eye that Michael was doing the same.

To Isabel's surprise, Max didn't move a muscle. There was a small increase in the temperature, but that was the only visible sign of the rage that Isabel just knew was lurking inside of him.

A few moments later, Max blinked slowly and then took one, casual step forward; making sure to keep eye contact with Nasedo the whole time.

"Liz and any other human we choose to socialize with are of no concern to you. You will be taking over Pierce's job and you will ruin The Special Unit from within."

Nasedo looked down at Tess for a short second before looking back up at Max with a small smirk in place. "Really, what makes you so sure, Max?" The way he spoke the human name was etched with mockery.

Isabel swallowed down her growing worry when Max simply copied Nasedo's smirk and said with steel in his voice, "Because I'm your king and I gave you an order. And while we're on the subject; the deal you've made is hereby annulled, do you understand. That's an order."

Nasedo paled so fast that it looked like his blood was vanishing completely from his head. Tess looked even more confused as she kept looking from her guardian to Max. "What is going on here? I thought you'd be happy to see us. I'm the fourth alien; we have a destiny to fulfill."

Isabel wanted nothing more but to grab Tess' neck and squeeze the life out of her while laughing, but realistically, she knew that they had to tread carefully. They wouldn't want to change things too much. It took everything she had, but Isabel managed to look Tess in the eyes without letting her burning hatred shine through…At least, she hoped so.

"That destiny isn't going to happen," Isabel said quietly, "we're on Earth now and have formed connections that can't easily be broken."

"That's not…you just haven't been involved with our alien side like I have by growing up with Nasedo. I've learned so much, and Nasedo's helped me all my life and every time I wanted to live a normal life, he'd remind me of my duty. My destiny. Our destiny." Tess argued eagerly, it was clear that she fully believed in what she was saying.

For one tiny second, Isabel wondered if the Tess had ever longed to be normal as much as she had in the original timeline. We never really bothered to ask her about her childhood with Nasedo and then she betrayed us and no one cared.

"We do not need to be paired up, just because we were on Antar," Michael said, interrupting Isabel's thought process. "It's true that we're stronger when we're all together, our abilities fit together like the well-oiled machines we were made to be. Or in this case alien hybrids."

Nasedo was still standing frozen next to Tess, his widened eyes trained on Max with something akin to real fear written over his entire face. Isabel looked over at Max and saw that he too wasn't looking away from the older alien.

Coming to a decision, Isabel stepped in-between them and said coolly, "Well, it's getting late and I think we all have a lot to think about. You," her brown eyes zeroed in on Nasedo, "can send messages through Tess and we'll finalize the plans in the upcoming days. Tess," this time her eyes landed on the gaping blonde, "you are…welcome to join us for lunch at school tomorrow. We'll let ourselves out. Come on guys."

Isabel nodded to the fourth hybrid and her alien guardian before slowly walking out to the jeep, trailed by a silent Max and a tired looking Michael.

Max started the engine and they drove away from the Harding house. The silence stretched over them as each of them tried to come to terms with their day. Isabel was feeling nauseous, the disgust she had over Tess and having to be civil to her, a woman she'd hated for over a decade, was making her stomach turn.

She leaned forward and placed her head between her legs, trying to breathe slowly in and out. She closed her eyes and tried to follow the link from her to Alex, honing in on his soothing and regular emotions.

"Isabel, are you okay?" Max's voice sounded both concerned and exhausted at the same time.

Sitting back up, Isabel nodded. "I'll be fine. Just," she looked out at her surroundings, "please drop me off here and I'll walk the rest of the way home. I just need some time to think."

The understanding in both Max and Michael's eyes was palpable and a moment later, Max pulled in to the sidewalk and Isabel got out of the jeep.

"Be careful, Iz," Max cautioned softly, "I'll wait up for you at home."

"Don't worry, Max," Isabel smiled, "I can take care of myself, as you both know. I'll see you later."

She watched them drive away and didn't move until she could no longer see the jeep in the distance. Only then did Isabel start to make her way over to Alex's house. She was barely aware that she was doing it, but somehow there was a part in her that needed to see that Alex was still alive and well, despite having invited Tess back into their lives.

A little while later, Isabel stood on the Whitman's doorstep and after a brief hesitation, she resolutely rang the doorbell.

Fortunately, Alex was the one opening the door. He looked extremely shocked to see her, but there was also a clear hint of pleasure that made Isabel smile. I've always loved the way his emotions are written on his face. I don't even need the bond to tell me what he's feeling.

"Isabel, hi!" Alex nearly yelled his greeting and he quickly looked behind him with a sheepish grin. "Whoops, sorry about the noise level…Let me try again; hey Isabel. What brings you here?"

Before she knew what she was doing, Isabel put her arms around Alex's neck and hugged him tightly. Her nose was buried in his collar and she breathed in that scent of his that she'd never really forgotten.

"Oh, okay," Alex mumbled and she felt him battle through surprise, desire and concern before he settled on caring confusion. After a long second, he slowly put his arms around her, bringing her closer to him, something which Isabel didn't object to in the least. "What's going on, Isabel? Are you all right?"

"It's nothing," Isabel's reply was muffled because she didn't move her head from the crook of his neck. "Can I just, please stand here for a little while? I promise I'll leave in a minute…"

The soothing sound of his beating heart calmed Isabel in a way she had never imagined. He's alive; he's not lying in the back of a van with those empty eyes and that cold skin… The dreaded memory of the night he'd died crept into Isabel's mind and she hugged Alex even tighter. If she could, she would have crawled into him, she was that desperate to be close to him.

Alex placed his hand on the back of her head and gently caressed her hair, stroking it as though he wanted to calm her like a wild, scared animal. "It's okay; I'll just stand here with you for as long as you need it, Isabel. Take all the time you want, I'm not going anywhere."

No you're not; Isabel thought and blinked away the burning in her eyes that threatened to turn into tears. I'll see to that.

Outwardly, Isabel simply sighed and whispered, "Thank you, Alex," before allowing herself to just relish in the fact that Alex was with her and alive and well.

Michael's POV

Having had his very first, all round exhausting day after his trip with the granolith express, Michael was not in a very good mood.

Therefore the morning after the visit at Nasedo and Tess' house, Michael was tired and grumpy. He'd never really been great at the whole cheerful thing, especially when he was tired. His mood wasn't made any better when he was rudely awoken fully by a pounding that the fragile door to his so called room in Hank's trailer couldn't quite handle. A moment later, the door banged open and slammed into the wall with a bang.

Hank stepped inside and by the looks of him, he was extremely intoxicated. "You! Boy!" he roared and stomped over and hauled Michael off the pitiful excuse for a bed and dragged him through the living room area and threw him out the door and onto the patch of dirt that made up their entire garden area.

"Hank, what the hell!" Michael yelled; he was wide now awake and ready for anything. Having lived through a war with unexpected twists and horrors, Michael's training made him instinctively tense up and prepare for blood.

Hank himself, stood swaying in the doorframe for a second, before jumping down on the ground in front of him. "Don't you sass me, Boy," he spat and his arm lunged out to hit his foster child as he'd done so many times before.

Except, this time things were about to happen a little differently. The second before Hank's fist would have connected with Michael's chin; Michael's left hand snapped up and grabbed a firm hold on Hank's wrist.

"Don't even think about it," Michael stated with an uncanny calm that managed to ruffle Hank momentarily.

Hank tried to wrestle his wrist away from the iron tight grip his foster son had on him, but it was without success. "Let go of me, Boy," he finally ordered angrily.

Michael knew that although he'd probably enjoy it for about five seconds (or more), it wouldn't be a good idea to pound his abusing foster parent into the ground for all the neglect and violence he'd suffered in his childhood. Instead he took a deep breath and settled for asking calmly, "Now, tell me why you felt the need to throw me out of my bed? Now Hank."

Hank swallowed, making his prominent Adam's apple jump. It was obvious that he was feeling intimidated by the much more mature Michael in front of him. As they stood at their impasse, Hank realized with an internal start that Michael was actually taller than him. "You've grown so much," he murmured after yet another long moment.

Michael rolled his eyes and released Hank. "Good observation Hank. I'm still waiting for your answer."

"I-I got a call from your school yesterday and this lady wanted to talk to me Monday afternoon. Sounded like you've been misbehaving and," here Hank's insecure tone turned determined, "I won't allow any kid of mine to mess up his chances at school. You're gonna finish high school no matter what, ya hear?"

"I didn't know you cared," Michael said, still oozing with a calm that seemed to almost scare the sobriety back into his foster dad.

"Your ma' would've wanted you to graduate and I want to make her proud of you." Hank responded after a brief thought period, there was something that resembled guilt and regret showing in his red rimmed eyes.

Michael blinked; he honestly couldn't remember when he'd last thought of the woman that had been married to Hank when he first came to live with him. Marianne Guerin had been a complete opposite to her husband; quiet, intelligent and extremely happy about having him in her life.

The almost forgotten memory of his foster mom, reminded Michael of a time when Hank had been sober, hardworking at the factory where he'd been employed for over fifteen years. Then Marianne had fallen ill and died after a short battle with cancer. It had been the start of Hank's current way of life.

Marianne had been the only human that Michael had ever opened up too before Maria, and when she left him all alone with a man that had transformed from a decent guy to an angry drunk, that had been the start of his own journey into self-preservation and caution towards letting people in.

Blinking out of the unexpected memories, Michael ran a hair through his hair with a sigh. "Look, Hank; I'm not sure what Topolsky told you, but I've got no plans to quit school. Now go back inside and sober up while I get ready for school."

Hank stared at him for a long while, and for a moment it was as though the haze of alcohol and stupidity slipped away to reveal the man he'd once been. "I'll do that Mike. And I'm…sorry, ya know for-"

Michael nodded mutely and walked back inside the trailer. He paused at the door to send a one fingered salute to their nearest neighbor, who'd been watching the whole thing with rapt, nosy attention.

Michael grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and walked into the tiny room that made up their shower. He quickly showered and dried off. He didn't look in the mirror as he brushed his teeth, still not used to seeing his naked torso without all the scars. Instead, he thought about how much his own negativity and anger had prevented Hank from getting decent help in the original timeline.

He used to be a good guy, Michael remembered as he dressed and went into his room to pack his worn book bag. Maybe I could try and convince him to go to some sobering up thing and get back on his feet.

It spoke of Michael's growth that he didn't entertain thoughts about making Hank relieve his past misdeeds. He no longer carried around that resentment and anger that had shaped him into the young hot head that had been so desperate to get out of Roswell that he'd kidnapped Maria to get answers. Hell, Michael thought with a wry smile, those beatings he stumbled through are nothing compared to what I've lived through since leaving this shitty place.

Finished with his preparations for the day, Michael reentered the living room area, where Hank was now sitting on his recliner with an unopened can of beer in his hand. It was obvious that something that Michael had said and done had somehow reached him and he was now looking thoughtful.

Silently, Michael walked over to the refrigerator and poured a glass of clumpy, smelly and clearly long expired milk. He shielded the glass as he placed his hand over it and changed it back into fresh milk. Then he walked back over to Hank and mutely replaced the can of beer with the milk.

Hank looked at the white liquid for a long time before looking up at the still silent Michael. Eventually, he nodded and drank half of the glass in one go. After wiping off the milk from his lip, Hank stood up with a new look in his eyes that were mixed with a bit of trepidation. "Got time to help me take out the beer? I don't think I can do it alone."

For the first time in years, Michael Guerin smiled a little at his foster parent. "Sure, Hank. I got time."

The two men then started taking out the trash. Michael took the trash bag filled with alcohol with him when Max and Isabel pulled up in front of the trailer, that way making sure that Hank wouldn't just go back to the trash and reclaim his beer once Michael had left for school.

The Evans kids eyed the bag in Michael's hand with interest clearly written on their faces and Isabel curiously asked, "What's that?"

Michael threw the bag in the back and jumped in next to it. He looked back at the trailer where Hank was now standing in the doorway looking at them driving away. "Hope for a man that didn't use to have any."

"What?" Isabel frowned in confusion and Michael looked back at her.

"I'll explain later, let's just go to school so we can see if Tess has any messages from Nasedo. Also, I need to have a quick chat with Topolsky."

Max and Isabel cast a hesitant look at him, clearly they didn't understand what was going on with him, but they didn't say anything and for that, Michael was grateful.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Things are slowly changing and I hope you don't find them too unbelievable. I know that Hank's turnaround might seem sudden and without any reason, but having grown up in a family of alcoholics, I've gone through some of the same things as Michael and the scene with the trashbag etc (not the manipulated milk for obvious reasons) are something that happened to me and that's why I think it's a believable path for Hank to go now...BTW Marianne Guerin is a complete figment of my imagination, if there's ever been written something about Michael's foster mom, this is obviously AU. Let me know what you think about this, it'd mean the world to me:)


	11. Michael, Tess and Kathleen

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Michael's POV

The sun was roasting his back mercilessly, beats of sweat trailed down his bare back and connected with the scarcely healed wounds there and it burned, but he barely even noticed. Slowly, his bloodied hands tore into the soil and removed more of it to make room for her final resting place. Next to him, Max's silent silhouette was doing the same and looking every bit as bloody and wounded. Probably even more, considering what he'd been through.

Michael knew deep down inside that, for once, Max wasn't doing the smart thing, they'd just rescued him from Khivar's clutches and his frail body wasn't supposed to be doing anything like this; Liz and Maria would kill him if they knew.

But they didn't and with a sigh that sounded more like a choking sob, Michael slowly reached out and removed more of the sandy dirt in front of him. The two humans would never know anything again…

"Max, Michael; please stop, it's enough now."

Michael didn't stop digging; he could feel the grains of sand itching painfully in the fresh wounds of his hands, but he didn't falter at the pain that was a mere parody to the one going on inside of him. Next to him, Max continued just as quietly, with just as much hopelessness written all over him.

Isabel's shadow fell over them and he could hear the devastation in her shaking voice. "You've been out here for hours. It's big enough guys. Look at yourselves, please…"

Michael looked up at her, the woman he'd married in another lifetime and simply stared mutely at her. Tears were trailing down both their cheeks. The despair in the air was thick. "Tell me what else I can do." He ordered hoarsely, his voice not yet itself after all his heartbroken screaming earlier, "Give me something to do, Isabel…"

Next to the last female hybrid, Serena was standing. Her dark-blue eyes were dimmed with sorrow and once again, she looked a lot older than a girl not even out of her teens. "You're gonna bury your wives," she stated emotionlessly, "they're bringing them now."

Just as Serena finished talking, Michael noticed Eric and Sydney coming with two floating madras' behind them. They were carrying their precious burden with a look of utter desolation on their faces. Not only had they lost the two humans that had helped them all come to terms with themselves, but during the rescue they'd lost the rest of the Unit that had been well enough to help Liz with her rescue plan.

As soon as he took in the sight in front of him, his heart started to pound in his chest and Michael straightened up, "No! We're not ready yet! Take her inside, we're not ready! Damn it, it's too soon!"

Grief was battling insanity inside of him and Michael could hardly breathe as they all came closer despite his orders. "No," he yelled and jumped up the hole he'd so painstakingly dug with his own hands, "go away! It's not time yet, it's too soon! Please!"

He fell to his knees, just as Eric and Sydney reached him and Michael saw her face; now clean of all the blood. She looked pale and wax like, but more serene than he'd seen her in years. It was like all her problems had evaporated with her essence. "God, no…Please…No, Maria you promised you wouldn't leave me."

His insides were blazing, he couldn't breathe and all he could hear was a roaring that echoed his earlier grief-stricken cries of disbelief. Isabel's arms wrapped around his trembling form, but they weren't the arms his body thirsted for and his cries turned into sobs and he moaned out his wife's name.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Michael could see Max's forgotten form, bending slowly forward and remove yet another handful of dirt. He didn't seem to notice Michael's noises of despair, the Unit's presence with their wives or Isabel's slow crying. Through all of it, he simply bent forward yet one more time and took another handful of dirt.

Michael hated his emotionless brother at that moment, desperately craving his numbness. His eyes traveled back on the eerily still form of his beloved. No, No NO!

"NO!"

Michael jerked up from his place on the floor in Max's bedroom. Instantly, he started examining his uninjured hands. He was gasping for air and he could feel tears drying on his face.

A moment later, Max's bedroom door was slammed open and Max came running in. He stopped short the second his eyes landed on Michael's still sitting form. Realization and pure understanding quickly formed in his eyes and Max quietly closed the door and walked over to his bed. "You're gonna be ok?" he asked without looking at him.

Michael was grateful that it was Max that had come running in. With his dream so fresh in his memories, the hybrid didn't think he could handle any consolation from Isabel. Just the thought of her arms around him made him shudder. Max, on the other hand, had been through the same as him, so he wouldn't even attempt a hug.

"Yeah," Michael finally said with a sigh as he ran his hands through his hair, "I'll be fine. Just dreaming of bad times, it'll pass soon enough."

"Okay, go take a shower. Trust me, you don't want to go downstairs to Iz and Mom looking like you do right now."

With another sigh, Michael got to his feet and made his way to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, he exited the steaming room and walked downstairs. He politely passed on breakfast, muttered something about having to go home to the trailer to check on Hank and left.

In reality, Michael's entire body was desperate to see the moving, vibrant, living version of his love. He was haunted by the last memory of his dream of her unnatural stillness and he needed to make sure that it had all been a horrible dream of the past.

He relished in the bond, never more thankful for it having somehow traveled back with him in the first place. He could feel her drowsiness and knew she was getting ready for school. When he went deeper, Michael could also feel some real concern bubbling inside her.

Oh God, Michael thought and picked up his pace, she must have felt me when I dreamed. Maybe she even saw some of the nightmare too…

Every now and again during their years together, after the bond had formed, Maria had somehow tapped into his dreams in a manner not unlike Isabel's. She didn't stand to the side and observe, she couldn't interfere, but she always just knew what he'd dreamed during those nights where the nightmares had been too difficult to keep at bay.

Eventually, before he could worry over it for too long, Michael arrived at the DeLuca home. He made sure that no one spotted him as he made his way to Maria's bedroom window.

The sight before him almost made his knees wobbly and he had placed a hand on the glass before he even realized he was doing it. Maria was standing in front of her mirror with nothing but a towel on. Her short hair was still wet and to Michael, at that moment he couldn't remember seeing anything so beautiful.

A second later, as Michael's eyes and his very soul were busy taking in the sight of a breathing Maria, she removed her towel and Michael's entire body went rigid.

It had been a very long time since Michael had seen his wife's body. And now in a time where she wasn't too busy to eat and still had some of her youthful fullness, Michael's eyes were swallowing everything for an entirely different reason than before; the tanned skin, the backside that he used to lavish with attention during their lovemaking. Images of some of those times assaulted Michael's senses and he nearly groaned out loud.

She reached out, grabbing a pair of underwear, but just as she did, Maria must have spotted him, because she twirled around and Michael barely dodged out of sight. If she catches me peeping, I'm a dead man, Michael rightfully thought, trying to force the image of Maria's perky breasts out of his mind. He quickly reached down and adjusted himself; it was getting downright painful in his tight jeans.

A few minutes later, Michael decided to risk looking inside again. Through the bond, all he could feel was Maria's earlier concern for him, so he didn't think she would notice.

But when he stood back up and looked inside again, his eyes locked on Maria's. She was standing in nothing but a pair of underwear and a short top, that barely covered what needed to be covered. Her arms were crossed ominously. Michael swallowed, he took in the narrowed eyes in front of him and through the bond it was quite obviously not concern headed in his direction anymore.

Finally, Maria reached out and opened the window. "What the hell are you doing here?" Her voice was icy and quivered with anger that resonated inside Michael.

"I…uhh," Michael was speechless. He had not been prepared for any of this and his mind couldn't quite catch up to him.

"Don't you "uh" me," Maria demanded and unceremoniously reached out and took a firm grip on his shirt and started pulling him violently inside.

Michael let her do it, seeing as he could easily have shook off the small woman, and stumbled inside almost landing head first on the carpet. Maria's hand on his arm steadied him though and he regained his balance. "You could just have invited me in," he said, trying not to look below Maria's eyelevel with all his might.

I'm not a teenage boy pumped full of hormones, he repeated the mantra internally a few times while he waited for Maria's inevitable comeback.

"Oh, I could've, but I wasn't sure you'd be coherent enough after staring at me like some common perv! I was naked, Guerin!"

"Shh!" Michael hissed glancing over at Maria's closed bedroom door. He suddenly had a vivid memory of Maria's mother storming in with fury on her face so very long ago. It didn't matter that he'd been through hell since then; Amy DeLuca still put the fear of God in him like any mother in law throughout the universe did.

Maria rolled her eyes and roughly pushed him backwards till he sat down on the bed. "My mom already went to work, she had a few deliveries to the Crash, so stop worrying and start explaining!"

Attempting to act nonchalant, Michael leaned up against the headboard of Maria's bed. "Explain what, DeLuca? I didn't mean to look, but you should consider getting some curtains or something in the future. It's not every guy out there that is as honorable as me."

"Oh please," Maria once again rolled her eyes. She took out a pair of pants from her stuffed closet and put them on, seemingly not caring that Michael was even there. "I'm not even gonna go into the whole peeping thing; in my mind it never happened. And you better forget it too! No, explain why I woke up earlier with tears falling down my face and this weird picture of you in my head with bloodied hands and a look in your eyes that I hope never to see, not even when you're being a complete ass."

Michael's heart started pounding. If she saw that, did she see why I looked like that? Did she notice that I'd aged? I can't tell her the truth; she'd go completely insane…

"Your subconscious might be trying to tell you to hook up with me...in a very disturbing kind of way," Michael finally settled on saying.

He was only vaguely offended by the snort that came out of Maria after listening to his "theory". "Good one, Michael."

Maria finished dressing and she turned fully around to face him. Her expression was uncharacteristically serious. "I know that all of you think that I'm a drama queen or whatever, but I do have my moments of clarity and I know that you're keeping something from me. To tell you the truth," Maria continued and sat down on the edge of the bed, "I don't really wanna know, but I do need you to know that you can tell me stuff, I won't freak out again or kick you in your private area…"

Michael's lip twitched, although the phantom pain from the time she'd done just that told him there was nothing funny about that sort of thing.

"Why are you suddenly willing to listen? I thought that deep down you sort of feared me."

Maria smiled a bit, "I wouldn't say fear you, but I don't know why really. There's just something about you…Besides, like I said, I wouldn't want to feel half of what you're apparently feeling when you think no one's around. Due to some weird reason, you and I share a connection, at least, that 's what Liz tells me," Maria shrugged with another smile and got back to her feet, "and let's just pretend this whole morning didn't happen, okay?"

Michael nodded with a frown; he honestly didn't know whether or not he was happy that Maria didn't want to investigate things further. After a long minute, he finally followed Maria outside and they stopped next to the Jetta that had played a big part in getting him involved with the energetic filled human in the first place.

"Oh, by the way Guerin," Maria's questioning voice brought Michael back from the memories of that night in the motel where they'd started seeing new sides of each other. He fought down a hint of sadness over the fact that it was something that most likely wasn't going to happen in this timeline now that he and his fellow hybrids had already changed things a bit.

He suddenly felt a gentle push in the shoulder and blinked out of yet another fond memory, only to come face to face with Maria's furrowed brows. "Didn't you hear what I asked? Oh, forget it. I just wanted to know why you showed up by my window in the first place this morning."

I dreamed of the time you died in my arms and the following breakdown I had, so I just had to see you alive, Michael mentally rolled his eyes at himself. Okay, maybe not…

Finally, the hybrid settled on a half truth, "I was out walking and I felt your concern so I decided to check it out, make sure you were okay."

Maria looked at him for a long second, her eyes locking on his and daring him to confess whatever secret he was keeping from her, despite her earlier claim to not want to know. Eventually, the blonde sighed and got in the car. "Well, I'm fine as you can see. Now, want a ride to school?"

"Yeah," Michael answered and got into the passenger seat. The familiar smell of it made him smile and he pretended not to see the curious look Maria sent him.

Tess' POV

The car ride to the high school was silent and Tess tried her best not to fidget uncomfortably as they neared the building. She cast a quick glance at the body that her guardian was currently copying before looking back out the window with a soundless sigh.

"It's all gonna be fine," Nasedo's voice stated a few minutes later, just as they pulled into the parking lot. "We'll find a way to get the four of you together again. But first, I have to be introduced to your guidance counselor…"

"Are you gonna kill her?" Tess asked. She acted like her voice didn't shake at the word kill. She'd always suspected that there was something about her guardian's way of doing things that she wouldn't like, but after meeting Max and the others two nights ago, she was almost certain that Nasedo's policy was close to a "kill first before getting suspected," kind of thing.

To her surprise, Nasedo looked immensely bitter for one short second before he answered with a forced calm on his face, "well, no. I think it'd be too big of a problem for our King and his group of human lovers. But," Nasedo's face lit up into a creepy smile, "she might have an accident later if all goes well. That way, I haven't killed her per say…"

"You don't have to do anything but talk to her," Tess pointed out, but quickly exited the car before Nasedo could reprimand her for being too soft.

He's never liked my half human side, Tess thought, hoisting her bag up her shoulder, and why should he? It's weak; he's only trying to teach me to be better; trying to teach me things from my home planet.

Although, the curly haired hybrid tried to think like she knew Nasedo would want her to, there was just something about the look in the other three hybrids eyes that told Tess that Nasedo possibly didn't have all the answers.

Due to her impeccable memory, Tess easily made her way through the throng of students and stopped outside Kathleen Topolsky's office door. She looked up at Nasedo, who'd been surprisingly silent ever since entering the school. There was a hint of pure disgust in the alien's eyes as his sight lingered on a kissing couple right next to him. Tess only hoped he could control his facial expressions enough so the undercover F.B.I. agent wouldn't notice anything amiss.

Of course, I understand his disdain; Tess thought with a small sniff, we are superior to this race and shouldn't mingle with them. That's why I'm so confused about Max and the others. They should know better…

A moment later, Tess regained her calm and knocked on the door. She walked inside with Nasedo at her heels. They politely greeted the pretty woman in front of them and took their seats as offered.

"Well," Topolsky's mild voice didn't suit what Tess thought about her, "I might be a little late, but I'd just like to welcome you to Roswell. It's a fascinating place and I hope that you'll do well here. Trust me; I know it can be a bit hard to settle in, being a newcomer myself."

"Oh?" Nasedo was the picture of polite curiosity, "I hope you won't end up regretting moving to this little town."

Tess sent a mild glare at her guardian, the threat in those words was easy for her to spot. She just hoped that Topolsky wouldn't think the same. Fortunately, the older woman only smiled and shrugged. "Okay, Miss Harding, I've already seen your transcripts from your other schools and I must say I'm impressed. I don't think that you'll have any trouble fitting in here, but I want you to know, that you can always come to me. It's what I'm here for after all."

Yeah right, Tess thought with an internal sneer. Just moonlighting on the side while you try to frame my kind and experiment on us…

Five minutes later, the informal meeting ended pleasantly and Tess followed Nasedo out through the door. A step later, she nearly bumped into her guardian's back when she realized that he had abruptly stopped moving. "What's wrong?" she asked, but as soon as she followed his eyes, Tess knew the answer.

Across the hallway, over by the lockers, Max Evans was standing. His crossed arms showed off his impressive physique, the tight black shirt helped show off his muscles as well. But that wasn't what had stopped Nasedo in his tracks, Tess understood that almost immediately.

There was a look in Max's eyes that promised a never ending path of pain. Tess was brutally reminded of that evening two nights ago, where Max and the other two Antarians had shown up at her doorstep. His voice had been carefully blank and there had been a frightening lack of emotions in his eyes. Still, Tess had never doubted for one second that he disliked her.

He might dislike me; I mean; he knows that we're supposed to be together, but why is he looking at Nasedo like that? Tess wondered.

After what seemed an eternity, Max simply straightened up and walked away without looking back at them. It was daunting for Tess to see someone so openly disrespect her intimidating guardian. She might have grown up with the man, but there wasn't a doubt in her mind that he was a dangerous person to cross. And here there are at least three that don't give a damn…I need to figure out why they're so confident. I'm the only one that's been trained by him after all, so my powers should be a lot more developed than theirs…

"Be careful about that one, Tess," Nasedo's quiet warning jolted Tess out of her thoughts and she looked up at him with widened eyes.

"There's something in his eyes that unnerves me and I do not appreciate that feeling." There was a beat of silence before the alien let out a deep breath and sent her a cheerful, albeit fake, smile, "anyway, have a great day and I'll see you at home, Sweetie."

A few moments later, Nasedo had vanished from her sight and it was with a heavy sigh that Tess started making her way to her first class of the day. Fortunately, the teacher hadn't shown up yet when Tess finally managed to find the classroom, so she slipped into a seat in the back, hoping to go mostly unnoticed.

A quick scan around her, told Tess that she shared the class with Isabel. Her former sister in law. Maybe I should go over and say hi again, Tess thought, ignoring that tiny spark of unease inside her. Out of the three hybrids, Isabel had been the one whose dislike had been the most obvious to spot. Something of a feat that still puzzled Tess, considering that Isabel Evans had a reputation for never showing any emotions, except to her friends.

Speaking of friends, Tess noticed that Isabel's eyes were discreetly fixed on a guy, who looked like he was part of the crowd interested in sports. A jock, Tess believed the correct term was. He's not that interesting; she thought and eyed the boy intensely.

His hair was windswept as though he'd just run around outside before class started. He had an open face and she had a feeling that he had an easy way about him. Although, Tess looked closer, he does look a bit sullen, I wonder what's going on with him?

No! Tess shook herself out of her sudden fascination with the human boy, I don't have time to do anything but get close to my long lost family. Like Nasedo says; I have a destiny to fulfill.

"Hey."

Tess started and looked up, right into the eyes of the boy she'd watched. Blinking, she quickly scanned the room and noticed that people were beginning to drift into small groups. "Hi," she slowly replied.

"Let me guess," the boy sent her such a charming smile that Tess found herself responding before she even realized she was doing it, "you didn't pay attention to the class and have no idea what's going on?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Tess smiled again and decided to introduce herself like a normal teenage girl would do, "I'm Tess."

"Hi, I'm Kyle," the boy answered and settled down at the table in front of her, turning it so it faced hers. "I'm glad you're in this group to be honest; you seem cool enough. I'm not exactly best buddies with the other two."

Just as he finished that statement, an unfamiliar female voice stated from behind Tess, "Yeah, well; I'm not exactly thrilled to be in this group either, Valenti."

Valenti? As in sheriff Valenti? Tess instantly decided to get closer to Kyle, so she had an easy access to the sheriff in town. She didn't get much time to ponder her further plans before the girl that had spoken walked over and nudged Kyle out of the way and greeted Tess.

"Don't listen to the ignorant jock, new girl. He's just a really bad loser," Kyle sent the girl a glare of epic proportions, but the girl either didn't notice or seem to care as she continued with a somewhat friendly smile, "I'm Maria DeLuca and I really hope you're smart, because with me and Valenti in this group, we're gonna need all the brainpower there we can get to pull off this whole project."

"Ah, I'm hurt," Tess had to consciously rein in a startled yelp when none other than Isabel sauntered over to their group and started talking. "I'll have you know I'm not just a pretty face Maria. I'm sure we'll work it all out in no time."

Tess watched keenly without letting any of her confusion show on her face as Maria's features twisted into something that was an obvious attempt at a casual smile; it failed miserably. "Hi, Isabel. Uh, I didn't see you there…Are you even supposed to be in this group?"

Only Tess noticed the quick look in her direction before Isabel answered Maria with such an amiable smile that the surrounding students gawked at the Ice Princess with disbelief, "Well, the group I was assigned isn't really full of people that I can stand so I asked to be switched to this group. I hope that's okay?"

She's afraid I might hurt them! There wasn't no doubt about that in Tess' mind and she recoiled mentally from the hurt that seemed to seep into her very bones. Why do they all think I'm such a dangerous person? We used to be a family; we belong together!

Isabel sent Tess a look that convinced the curly haired blonde that she somehow knew what was going through Tess' mind. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. As she was doing that, Tess once again caught the little look in Kyle's direction from Isabel and she decided to retaliate.

If she's too scared to let him know she's into him that just means I can sweep in and steal him from under her nose. Or at least do a little harmless flirting; that way she'll see I'm not gonna stand for this behavior much longer!

"Kyle?"

The moment Tess spoke Kyle's name, Isabel's attention snapped fully back onto Tess and the newcomer immediately regretted even thinking about toying with the human. "I-err…can you help me with what we're doing? I think I'm a little confused? But you don't have to if…Err."

They all heard Maria's softly muttered curse at being the one working closely with Isabel. For one split second, Tess could feel something akin to pity in her gut; there had been such a telling flash of hurt on the beautiful girl's face when she too heard Maria's reluctance.

Deciding to be the bigger person in all of this, Tess changed her opinion with a tentative smile at Isabel. "O-Or would you mind helping me Isabel?"

Isabel blinked slowly and her face didn't betray any emotions again as she replied that she wouldn't mind at all.

When the class ended, Tess gathered her things and hung back so she could talk to Isabel in private. It didn't take long; all the other students seemed more than eager to escape the stuffy classroom.

"Isabel, wait up," Tess called and walked up to the much taller blonde. "I think we need to talk."

"Okay, just as long as you know that I won't fall for any mindwarping; I've trained myself into knowing when things aren't real. So have Max and Michael for your information."

Tess swallowed a lump of dread while simultaneously fighting back her growing temper. How is that even possible? How come she even knows about my signature power?

Isabel's raised eyebrow, reminded Tess that she hadn't answered and she straightened up with what she hoped was an arrogant air about her, "I would never do that without a specific reason."

"Oh, I know that," Isabel said with a tightlipped smile. Again there was something in her eyes that seemed to haunt her, but before Tess got a chance to ask about it, it had disappeared. A second later, Isabel spoke again and Tess lost all her interest in Isabel's demons. "It's just that with your guardian being what he is, your reasoning might be a little different from ours."

"Look," Tess' temper finally snapped and she took a step closer, "I think I've been a damn good sport about all of this. I was so happy to see you, to finally get the chance to know you all. I was the one left behind, remember? I was the one that was all alone growing up with a man by my side that hates my," Tess quickly looked around to be sure of their privacy before continuing in a whisper, "human side. I just want to belong with someone like me. I sure as hell didn't expect to be treated like someone that's lower than dirt. I don't deserve that, Isabel…I haven't done anything but rejoice over finding you so we could fulfill our destinies together."

Isabel suddenly looked like she couldn't quite decide whether to be irritated or guilty. "I…apologize for making you feel like that, it wasn't my intention." The words seemed to be downright painful for the Evans girl, and Tess very much doubted her sincerity.

Isabel bent down a bit to speak directly into the smaller Tess' ear, "But if you want to fit in with us then let me give you a piece of advice." Isabel's coffee colored eyes darkened into something that gave Tess goosebumps all the way down her spine, "Let go of that silly dream about destiny. We make our own here in Roswell. Now excuse me for a moment, I need to go find my brother."

Tess looked at the door long after Isabel had vanished from her sight. That's the second time they've pointed out that they have no intention or desire to go back to the way things were meant to be…They seem to be content here in this little town with their humans.

Unexpectedly, there was a sudden image of Kyle's smiling face in her mind and Tess had to fight it off with all she had. She had been raised to be the Queen of another planet; she really couldn't fall victim to her hated human hormones.

Feeling a bit more in control of herself, Tess recalled the look of steel in Max's eyes when he'd warned Nasedo off the humans in their lives. I still can't believe that the mighty Zan is hung up on such an insignificant human. She can't even manipulate the slightest of molecules!

"Erm, are you okay?"

Tess blinked out of her furious thoughts and laid eyes on a pretty, dark haired girl with friendly eyes. In fact, it was the most friendly (aside from Kyle) that anyone had looked at her since arriving in Roswell.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired after the whole moving to a new town and school thing, I guess."

The girl chuckled, letting go of her bulging backpack so she could reach out a hand in greeting. "I see; that's hard on anyone, so I won't say anything. I just met Maria a few minutes ago; she told me all about you. I'm Liz by the way. Liz Parker."

"Hi," Tess found herself really liking the brunette in front of her and took the offered hand. "Well, if you've already talked to Maria, I guess there's no point in telling you my name is Tess?"

"I appreciate it none the less," Liz grinned, "and you'll learn soon enough that Maria's mouth works so fast that by now, I bet most of the school knows everything about you too."

I very much doubt that, Tess thought with an inwardly smile. You'd probably run scared if you knew the truth about me.

Out loud, Tess settled on shrugging with a smile. "I'd better get to class."

"Do you know where to go?" Liz asked and picked up her backpack with a theatrical moan of exertion.

"I've got biology, I think." Tess knew her schedule by heart, but she didn't want to come off as a complete geek.

To her surprise, Liz's face lit up hearing her destination. "Oh that's great; I've got bio too. I can take you there. It's my favorite subject."

Tess followed Liz to the class, a bit confused, but thankful however, over the friendliness and openness that the brown haired girl projected towards her. It made for a nice change. I think, that for a human, Liz is actually kind of cool.

A few minutes later, the duo entered the biology classroom and Tess' heartbeat picked up drastically when she spotted Max sitting alone in the front of the class. He was smiling widely and it transformed him from the frightening youth she'd seen to a very handsome man that any girl would be lucky to have.

The smile confused Tess momentarily, is he finally coming around? That doesn't make sense; he seems to really resent my presence. Then she realized that he wasn't even looking at her, at that point in time, she doubted he even noticed her standing there. His eyes were fixed on Liz, who was still chatting good-naturedly with Tess.

In that second, Tess knew just who Liz Parker really was and her whole preconceived notions about the human girl shook in their foundations. This is the girl he risked everything for; my rival. She briefly entertained the thought of taking Liz home and letting Nasedo scare her off the hybrids so she could have Max to herself, but then again; Liz wasn't at all what she'd expected.

In those few minutes they'd walked together, Tess had categorized her as a friend and she wasn't as cold inside as Nasedo wanted her to be; she couldn't deliberately hurt the one girl that had been genuinely friendly towards her.

Max's eyes finally slid from Liz's smiling face and over to Tess. His face turned emotionless within the blink of an eye and she recognized the king in him that Nasedo had told her about so many times growing up. This man will kill me if I even think about doing something he doesn't approve of. When did my life become so damn complicated?

Topolsky's POV

The bell rang, signaling the end of the time she had to spend with the kids that needed guidance and she let out a relieved sigh. I am getting so tired of this. I'm stuck in this office all day and have to run around trying to gather information about the subjects in my spare time.

Kathleen knew that she needed to be able to show some results soon, or else Agent Pierce would most definitely not be happy with her. The very thought of her boss made the undercover agent uncomfortable and she repressed a shiver of unease.

"I just hope this plan works," she muttered, looking down at the questions she'd written. She planned to give them to the one teacher, who had all the subjects in one class and make him pair certain individuals up to gain a better knowledge of their true selves. At least, that was what she planned to tell the idiotic man that taught the class; he would no doubt do as she suggested. He's always staring at my chest and asking me out on dates, so it shouldn't be a problem to get him to agree to this in the first place.

"And then I'll hopefully have something to show to Pierce," Kathleen whispered, biting her bottom lip anxiously. She knew better than most what happened to the people that failed to bring results in the Special Unit. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna be one of those people…

A knock on the door interrupted Kathleen's scheming and she quickly hid her papers, clicked away from the F.B.I. page on her computer and said, "Come on in."

She was a bit surprised when the door opened and she recognized Tess Harding's father of all people in the doorway. "Hello again," she greeted with what she hoped was a somewhat civil smile. "May I help you, Mr. Harding?"

He smiled and raised his hand a bit, "Oh, please; call me Ed, Mr. Harding makes me think about my father."

Kathleen politely nodded, "okay, Ed. May I help you with something?"

"I know it might seem a bit sudden, but I'd be very honored if you'd allow me to take you to dinner, Miss Topolsky?"

Kathleen's instincts suddenly screamed danger of all things. She narrowed her eyes and looked closer at the slightly dorky visage of Tess' father. She met his eyes and all her reservations seemed to melt away in an instant. "Sure, Ed. I'd be delighted."

Ed's lips smiled but his eyes were without any real joy, but Kathleen didn't get a chance to mull it over, because he nodded and spoke again. "I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow night. I am looking forward to it, Miss Topolsky."

It took Kathleen five minutes after Ed had left her office to regain her senses. She shook her head in dismay, I usually don't date when I'm on an assignment, she thought. What on earth possessed me to say yes to him? He's not even that cute.

Kathleen sighed and got ready for her next period of algebra; she was still standing in for the teacher that she'd paid to call in sick for a while. Well, it's just one little date with a harmless little man; what could go wrong?

TBC…


	12. Liz, Max og Isabel

Liz's POV

Liz had been feeling a bit antsy all afternoon; she'd fidgeted through dinner and had eventually excused herself to go do her homework to escape the questioning glances from her bewildered parents.

The peculiar feeling inside her seemed to grow the longer the day wore on and although she knew rationally that the bond between Max and she was currently closed off, she just knew that her emotional state had something to do with him.

Finally she managed to drift into an uneasy sleep. She was clutching her journal and laying on top of the covers, as though subconsciously she was waiting for something.

Suddenly, a few hours after midnight she was awakened by a repeated knock on her bedroom window. Liz sat up with a gasp, blurry images of an angry, thin and older looking Max flashing in her mind. She looked over at the window, half expecting the man himself to be there, but to her surprise it was one of the people she never expected to show up at her house. Ever.

Michael Guerin.

To top off the weirdness of that, the young man looked extremely tired and there was something about the way he held himself that told Liz that he was nothing short of desperate.

Hesitantly, she placed her journal under her pillow and walked over to the window. She swiftly opened it, and crawled out on the balcony to avoid her parents hearing her. Not that that was any real concern of hers, her dad slept like the dead and snored like a freight train. Her mom as a consequence always wore earplugs and wouldn't hear anything even if they were right next to her screaming fire.

"Michael…hey?" Liz muttered, crossing her arms over her chest to keep the cool night air away. "Not to be rude, but you do realize it's pretty late, right?"

Michael's gaze softened a fraction, and Liz had the feeling (again) that there was something big she was missing. There shouldn't be a reason for the infamous Guerin to even remotely like her, in fact he'd always gone out of his way to glare at her in the past whenever she came to close to him (and Max).

Michael spoke a second later, interrupting Liz's internal realization that the glares had stopped approximately around the time when Max had saved her when she was shot. "Yeah, sorry. I wouldn't come here if it wasn't important. And it is, really important. Grab a coat and come with me right now."

Immediately, Liz's imagination went into overdrive. She didn't get a chance to voice her concerns before Michael spoke again, leaning forward a bit with a renewed air of desperation around him, "We need your help and we need you to trust us no matter what you might see. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't necessary, Liz."

The way he's talking makes it sound like it's a matter of life or death, Liz thought with a frown, but that's preposterous. We're just kids, what can possibly be so important? It's got to be something alien related, Liz answered her own question a moment later as she walked back into her bedroom to grab a coat silently.

Before she knew it, Liz was being all but dragged with Michael to the parking lot behind the Crashdown, where she quickly spotted Max's familiar jeep. Her heart sped up at the thought of seeing Max in whatever state it was that had Michael so obviously concerned, but to her disappointment, the jeep was empty.

Michael guided her into the vehicle and simply asked her to hold on as he started the engine and drove out of the parking lot with squealing tires. It didn't take long before Liz realized that they weren't headed to the Evans' residence as she'd initially expected. Instead, Michael drove them out of the town and continued down the empty road.

The closer they got to their destination, the more Liz's insides started churning and she had to take deep breaths all of the sudden to prevent from releasing her dinner out the speeding car. She very much doubted that Michael would pull over until they reached their goal.

A little while later, Michael turned the car down a bumpy road and continued into a landscape that Liz had never seen before. "What is this place?" she asked, before she could stop herself.

Michael threw a quick glance at her, ignoring Liz's widened eyes at the thought of him not looking where he was driving in the process. They were going very fast. "It's hard to explain," he said and turned his attention back to driving.

Liz bit her lip; she felt another wave of nausea wash over her and she had to fight it back before she could safely speak again, "Then at least tell me where we're going. I'm taking a lot on faith here, Michael."

Michael didn't look at her again, but after a few seconds, he muttered quietly, "I'm taking you to Max. He's…he's not doing so good."

"Is he hurt? I guess he can't really go to a normal hospital, but Michael I'm not that smart, I don't know anything about medicine or…Is he okay?" Liz's heart was almost pounding out of his chest at the mere thought of Max hurting. She didn't have time to wonder why the silent boy had somehow become as necessary to her as breathing; she just suddenly knew that he was. And the idea scared her more than she wanted to admit.

"He's not injured psychically," Michael quickly interjected before Liz could work herself up into a proper state of panic. "Like I said, I can't really explain it and you'll just have to trust me. I know that sucks, but there isn't anything I can do about that."

Liz hated not knowing what to expect; she was a very organized human being and anything that threatened to ruin her order of things set her completely out of balance. Another reason as to why she'd been so easy to snap and cancel the unpredictable bond between her and Max. She closed her eyes, trying to compose herself to the best of her abilities.

The jeep pulled to an abrupt stop in the darkness and Liz's attention snapped back to the present. Her earlier fears and worries about Max surged to the surface with a vengeance and she staggered when she got out of the car.

Michael was by her side instantly, "you okay?"

"Fine," Liz replied and took a deep breath, "I just got a bit woozy that's all. Now take me to Max, I'll be fine."

For at brief moment, Michael looked like he wanted to protest, but then his eyes sought out a side of rock behind them and his earlier determination returned. He nodded mutely and took Liz's hand, leading her through the darkness with an air about him that suggested that he'd spent many a night out here.

What would they be doing out here? It's in the middle of nowhere. Liz pondered, fumbling in the dark, but trusting the alien to lead her to Max none the less. Maybe they're out here whenever they need to have some sort of secret meetings…But I had the impression that they all lived normal lives, hiding themselves in plain sight. There shouldn't be any logical reason for their current secrecy.

Liz was brought out of her thoughts when Michael finally stopped in front of a wall of solid rock. "Michael," she began, not understanding what was happening. He cast a quick look at her, but didn't respond. Instead, he waved his hand in front of the stone and to Liz's surprise, a solid handprint like the one she'd had on her stomach after Max's healing lit up briefly before the stone started rumbling and moved to the side.

Liz stared at the revealed entrance, completely struck with confusion. She had just turned to Michael to ask more questions, when Isabel's frantic voice reached her and she remembered why she was even there in the first place.

"Liz!"

Isabel looked frenzied. The usually so perfect blonde's hair was disheveled, pulled into a messy ponytail, her clothes were rumbled and Liz was shocked to find traces of blood on Isabel's face. "Isabel? Oh my God, are you okay?"

Isabel looked at Michael, "You didn't tell her anything?"

Michael shook his head and answered, as he simultaneously closed the entrance door shut, "No, I figured it'd be best to just get her here as fast as possible. Besides, what was I supposed to say? Did she wake up?"

Isabel bit her lip briefly and shook her head, "She's still in the hidden chamber; I tied her up just in case. Other than that I haven't been able to do anything useful." Isabel sighed heavily, looking dejected and worn out, before turning her focus back on Liz, who once again was busy fighting off another bout of queasiness. "Liz, are you okay?"

"She looked a bit green outside too," Michael said, placing himself behind Liz. "I think it might be her feeding off his emotions. Or the bond that wants to be reopened or something, I don't know."

Isabel nodded. She hooked her arm through Liz's, "Liz, I'm gonna take you to Max now. I think you might be the only one to really get through to him right now. I've tried, but…Just try, I'm begging you."

Liz followed alongside Isabel, and walked a bit further into the dimly lit cave. A second later, she stopped dead. She locked eyes with a pale looking Tess, who was sitting over in the farthest away corner next to an unmoving body of a middle-aged man. She too had blood splatters on her face and clothes like Isabel. Judging from the amount of blood on the (hopefully in Liz's opinion) unconscious man, he was the reason for both Tess' and Isabel's bloodied appearance.

Liz blinked in confusion, what is she doing here? How does she know about them? Did she and that man try to hurt them? If she's laid a hand on Max, I'll…

Liz never finished her thought because a shiver of movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her head and gasped in shock. In the opposite corner Max was sitting. He looked horrible. He too was bloody, but more so than any of the girls. His shirt was torn and even in the darkened room, Liz could see blood dribbling down his beige shirt with horrifying clarity.

The thing that scared the young waitress the most though, wasn't the blood or the way he sat almost immobile on the cool ground. It was the eerie way he was simply staring at the body at Tess' feet. Even from the spot where Liz was standing, she could see the cold, burning hate in Max's eyes and it was honestly a look that she didn't like. In fact, it scared her so much that she could barely breathe all of the sudden.

"Wh-What's happened?" Liz managed to squeak through her lips, she noticed that Max flinched at the sound of her voice before going impossibly still once more.

Tess had literally jumped at the tiny movement from Max and was now clutching the strange man's pants leg, looking anywhere but at Max.

Isabel stepped forward and nodded in Tess' direction, "Tess is the fourth alien. She…she is one of us and that man is her guardian, Nasedo. He's the only true alien of us all; he has no human characteristics whatsoever. He…" Isabel stopped and looked back at Michael, who took over with an exhausted voice.

"He did something he shouldn't have and Max went batshit crazy trying to make things better and then he just sat down and we haven't been able to communicate with him since. Iz even tried her dreamwalking and she was almost knocked out by the walls Max has erected around his mind."

Liz remembered hearing about the special talent that Isabel possessed, so she didn't bother asking anymore questions. Taking a deep breath and silently rejoicing in the fact that it seemed as though her nausea was slowly dwindling away, she asked quietly, "If his own sister couldn't make things better, what makes you all think I have a shot? He barely knows me…I'm just the human he saved and accidentally connected with. Compared to you guys, I'm nothing."

For the first time that night, Isabel and Michael's faces lit up with small twin smiles. Isabel placed a hand on Liz's shoulder, "don't sell yourself short, Liz. There isn't a doubt in my mind that if anyone can get through to my brother right now, it's you. Don't be scared, he won't hurt you."

Suddenly the nausea returned with a crushing vengeance and Liz's sight blurred uncomfortably, something unfamiliar, yet so familiar at the same time played out behind her eyes.

An image of an older, tired and scruffy looking Max with a soft smile looking in her direction, whispering with intensity, "I know I look bad right now, but don't be scared."

And then the ghost of her own voice, deeper and softer at the same time answered gently, "I could never be scared of you, you silly boy."

Liz fought down the dizzy spell and opened her eyes, while whispering, "I could never be scared of him…"

What is going on? I can't afford to freak out right now, Liz reprimanded herself and after receiving an encouraging and pleading look from Isabel and Michael, she walked slowly over to Max.

When she reached him, she kneeled in front of him, but he kept staring dead ahead. It was like he was looking right through her and at the unconscious Nasedo.

"Max," Liz said his name tenderly, hoping to get his attention. He didn't seem to register her voice as he'd done earlier and Liz battled with herself over what to do next.

She recalled Michael's theory about the bond acting up and finally came up with an idea. I just hope it's the right one, Liz thought grimly. She reached out and grabbed Max's face, gently turning it in her direction. "Please don't be mad at me, if this doesn't work," Liz begged before simply leaning forward, pressing her warm lips to his cold ones.

She sent all that she was through the bond like she'd done the day Topolsky had arrived; opening up the bond for the first time in weeks. She didn't feel anything in return, the lips under hers didn't respond and Liz had just about lost all hope and was in the middle of pulling back, when suddenly Max's hand landed on the back of her neck and forced her right back into a much more passionate kiss.

Liz managed to feel one brief second of fierce relief at his initiative before being literally assaulted with images and emotions that burned through her mind with an intensity that she wasn't in the least bit prepared for. Pictures of unknown constellations, battling people, scenes of Max making love to her, yet it wasn't her. Flashes of joy, love, pain, despair, hate and numbness roared through her faster and faster until she felt like she couldn't take it one second longer.

Suddenly, Liz was pushed roughly away and she tumbled backwards, landing halfway on top of Nasedo's still body. She felt something that she knew was blood trail down her chin from her nose. It was as though the mental awakening of their bond that Max had needed had been a bit too much for Liz's frailer human brain.

"Liz!" "Are you okay?" "What happened?" Isabel and Michael were already next to her, pulling her to her wobbly feet.

Everything was a blur; Liz kept blinking, trying to get the pounding in her head to go away. Her earlier nausea was back and it had brought friends. She swallowed repeatedly, hoping that it would prevent her from losing her dinner. She licked her dry lips and tasted blood.

She tried finally speaking over Isabel's continuing fussing, "I don't feel so good, guys." And then Liz's legs gave out and she tumbled towards the ground. Only to be caught by two strong arms just as blissful blackness overcame her completely.

Max's POV

Several hours earlier:

It was lunch time when Max for the first time realized that Tess' arrival in their "new" life wasn't an entirely bad thing, that he'd spoken a truth when he predicted that they'd eventually need her help.

He had just sat down next to Isabel, who was berating Michael for his lack of achievement in class, despite having already lived through it once. Max even managed to let slip a teasing remark of his own, just as Tess arrived, looking slightly uncomfortable.

She placed her tray of food on the table, glanced around and the moment her eyes met Max's, he noticed that she looked a lot more emotional than he ever recalled seeing her in his earlier life. Then she spoke, and all thoughts of her state of mind and the thoughts of new Tess versus the other Tess flew out of his mind.

"I'm sorry to do this, but I thought you should all know that Nasedo is taking Topolsky out to dinner tonight."

Max could literally feel his blood drain from his face; all his muscles tensed and he was suddenly right back into his old mindset of, "kill or be killed." By the looks of it, Tess' words had had similar effects on his fellow time travelers.

Michael was gripping his Tabasco spiked soda so hard that his fingertips were white and his eyes had darkened ominously. Isabel was as frozen as Max, but her eyes portrayed her feelings quite clearly. The Ice Princess was back.

For a fleeting second, Max felt sorry that his sister and brother in all things but blood had to go back to those dark places inside themselves, but then his own growing rage got the better of him. "I told him to stay away from her; from all the humans."

Tess visibly flinched at his admittedly hard tone, but Max couldn't find it in him to care. "I-I know. I don't know how he…I don't know why he would even…I might not like the choices you've made, but I would never," Tess look around to make sure no one was listening, "never actually kill someone."

Not yet, Max couldn't keep the nasty thought entirely at bay and judging by the muffled scoff that Isabel couldn't quite keep in she had the same control issues as he did.

The look Tess sent Isabel told Max that she'd seen it too and was clearly offended by it and he spoke before she could focus in on it, "I need you to give me the time and place this is going to take place. Iz you go make sure the others are safe; if he can go after Topolsky, who's to say he won't try anything with our, "Max edited his words at the last minute, "our friends."

Isabel nodded mutely and immediately stood up and walked towards the corner of the quad where Alex and his bandmates were playing some casual guitar and having fun. Max turned to Michael, "You-"

Michael nodded, "Go try stalling Topolsky with something. Got it." He got to his feet and quickly disappeared inside the school without another word. Max watched him leave with a wry smile. He'd forgotten how well Michael and he worked together during times of crisis. We should, Max thought, running a hand through his hair with a sigh, we've been through tough situations since we were this age the first time.

After another sigh, Max stood up to go do his part. He had some training to do, he might know extremely much about battle, but the truth of the matter was that his current body might not be ready for such strenuous exercise without proper preparation. And I'll kill him twenty times over before he even comes close to Liz or the others even if it takes my life to do it.

"Max?" Tess' voice brought him back from his planning and he looked down at the admittedly pretty blonde, who'd married him in his original life. "I don't wanna sound pathetic, but I really don't like the idea of…well, violence, really. I mean, Nasedo's trained me my whole life, so I know I'm probably more prepared than you guys in most aspects, but I've never actually hurt any living creature. I-"

"Look, Tess." Max interrupted, he tried his hardest to give her a sort of smile to set her mind at ease, "We all appreciate what you've just done. I promise that we won't hurt your guardian unless he takes things too far. Now, excuse me, I have to go."

He was stopped by her hand on his arm. She looked serious as she stated quietly, "If things go too far, I will have to choose a side."

The two hybrids stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, before Max ended the stare down with a mute nod of understanding and walked away towards the parking lot. He had some training to do.

o0o0o

Some hours later, the trio of time travelling hybrids and Tess were waiting for Nasedo and Topolsky to exit the local restaurant that their so called date was taking place in. Max took it as a personal offence that the scheming Nasedo had chosen one of the few restaurants that Max had actually managed to take Liz to before their lives went to hell.

It was dark outside when Nasedo led Topolsky out to his car, chatting amiably with the slightly dazed looking agent. Isabel had used her powers and changed the green jeep to a black one, but that was about all the visible preparation that had been done to make sure they wouldn't be discovered prematurely. Max started the engine and followed Nasedo from a safe distance.

After a few miles, it became obvious to them all that Nasedo had no plans on driving Topolsky back to her apartment; instead he kept driving past the city limits. "I guess Tess was right," Michael muttered at one point and Max grunted in agreement, but that was all that was spoken during the tense ride out of town.

Finally, Nasedo took a turn down an old abandoned road and disappeared from sight. Max pulled into the side of the road and quickly jumped out. He looked back at his sister, whose attention was both on him and on Tess as well, just in case. Until she's chosen a side, we can't afford to let her out of our sights.

Michael walked ahead and came back a few minutes later in a run. "He got out of the car and Topolsky seemed really out of it, he's in the middle of digging a hole; I think he's gonna bury her alive."

"It makes sense," Max stated calmly, he could feel his old self trying to take over, but he pushed it aside. I won't be that guy again; I can't be with Liz if I'm that guy.

"Sense?" Tess hissed, gesturing in the direction that Michael had just come from. "We don't have time to think about that, we need to figure out what to do."

"He's gonna bury her alive because as long as she's alive when he left that means he hasn't really violated my order." Max continued as though the blonde hadn't spoken. He looked over at Michael, "lead the way. This has to stop now."

A few moments later, Max came to a stop and he gritted his teeth at the sight before him. Topolsky was lying immobile on the hood of the car; from the way her eyes darted around it was clear to see that Nasedo had somehow drugged the special agent with something that left her unable to move, but otherwise alert.

Nasedo himself didn't seem to care that pure terror was practically oozing off his frozen victim behind him. Instead, he calmly continued digging a hole in the ground while humming along to a song that played on the car radio. The whole scene freaked even the war weary Max out. I always knew he took our "protection" to the extreme, but this is just morbid.

Tess stood next to him, flanked by Isabel and Michael. She didn't seem to notice that she was essentially caged in, should she choose to reveal herself to her guardian. Her eyes lingered on Topolsky with a horrified expression on her face.

The moment Topolsky spotted them, her eyes widened even more and Max was close enough to see the tears trailing silently down her face, smearing her carefully laid makeup. The sight of the petrified woman and the sound of Nasedo's quiet humming caused something within Max to awaken and he snapped.

"Nasedo!"

The older alien spun around, automatically mimicking Max's battle stance. "Oh, hello Max. I certainly was not expecting your presence here tonight." His eyes rammed into Tess with silent authority and it was a look filled with disapproval over her evident betrayal of him, instinctively Max stepped in front of the now trembling Tess, taking the heat off of her.

"Whether you expected me or not, this ends now!" Max said, clenching his fists.

Nasedo sent him a patronizing smile. "Max, I know you do not approve of my methods so this is just my way of honoring your command. She is a danger to you all and must be removed before disaster strikes."

"She's nowhere near the danger to us that you are," Isabel sneered from her place at Tess' side, her brown eyes practically gleaming with hatred.

Nasedo didn't respond to that. He looked over at Topolsky and then suddenly lunged towards her. Apparently, he wanted to use her as a shield in case things got physical.

What Nasedo hadn't counted on was Max's abilities that went way above those that his own charge possessed. Max raised his hand and within a second a human sized shield shimmered around Topolsky, glowing green.

"You will follow my orders!" Max roared, he could feel himself becoming that harsh leader he'd been after Liz's death back in his original timeline and although he hated it, he needed that strength for what he just knew would be a fight for his life.

"You idiot child," Nasedo yelled and suddenly the air shimmered with invisible balls of electricity that was definitely meant to do harm. "I will not be commanded by a weakling!"

"Watch out," Michael jumped into Max, getting the enraged hybrid out of the way, while Isabel dragged Tess to safety behind some large rocks.

Max nodded his thanks to his friend and got to his feet, tensing all his muscles. He lifted a hand and a big gash opened up on Nasedo's chest and the older alien staggered back with surprise etched on his features.

Max hardheartedly repeated the action a few times until Nasedo got his wits back and started reciprocating. Max gestured to a rock and it quickly surged forward, taking the hit that Nasedo had sent his way. Soon the two men were engaged in a fierce fight that left the spectators completely speechless by its sheer speed and power.

The longer Max stood his ground with Nasedo, the more frantic the older alien seemed to become. After a particular nasty near hit, Max finally figured out why Nasedo's fighting style seemed so familiar.

"How long did you work for Khivar before leaving for Earth with our pods?" Max asked, panting a bit as he rolled out of the way of an attack that Max had witnessed Khivar's men use all the time. He used the counter attack that Serena had painstakingly taught him so long ago and escaped relatively unhurt.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Nasedo sneered, heaving after breath a lot more than Max did. "I am hired as your protector and will kill anyone getting in the way of that; even your pathetic humans!"

Max had moved before even realizing it. In the background he heard his family scream his name, but by then a red fog of rage had settled down upon him and he wanted nothing more than to see that mocking, superior smirk vaporized from Nasedo's face.

The moment he reached the other man, he erected another shield around them and punched Nasedo so hard in the face that he could hear the alien's jaw break with a brutal and very satisfying crack. Nasedo stumbled backwards and didn't get a chance to counter Max's very human style of attack before the hybrid king continued his merciless assault.

"Don't. Ever. Disobey. Me. Again!" Max demanded; slamming his bloodied fists into Nasedo's face over and over again. Max was so engrossed in his rage and his memories of all the harmful things the alien underneath him had set in motion by his deviousness that he never saw his shield shimmer away. He never heard Nasedo's pleading whimper for mercy; Max was completely blind to all but the beating he was delivering. For the first time since arriving in this timeline, Max was truly enjoying himself and he couldn't stop.

Suddenly, he felt the telltale signs of someone's powers trying to push him away from his victim and he looked up with a feral growl of rage, his eyes locking on Tess. She looked absolutely terrified, but her hands were steady as they kept pointing at him, keeping him away from the now unconscious Nasedo. "Max, please don't do this. I owe him my existence; I can't stand by and watch you kill him like this…Please stop."

Deaf to her pleas, Max held out a hand and a moment later, Tess was the one flying backwards, slamming into a tree that was already filled with long marks and broken branches from the earlier fight. She groaned in pain as she sat up a few moments later.

"Max, stop, this isn't you!" Isabel yelled and Max's attention turned to her. At that moment, it wasn't his sister he was looking at. It was another obstacle in his way that needed to be removed. Slowly, he reached out his hand but right before he would have hit her, Michael put up a shield of his own. It was a weaker version than Max's and it fell away the moment it had absorbed Max's strike.

"Dude, come back to your senses, man!" Michael sent out a pulse wave and the rock next to Max exploded into million pieces of dust. "You won't forgive yourself when you come back," Michael stated, dodging Max's continued assaults.

Max was now so absorbed in his clash with Michael that he didn't realize that Isabel was right behind him until she wrapped her arms around him. Her warm breath tickled the back of his neck and something softened within him, but it wasn't enough. "Get the hell off of me."

"Think of Liz, seeing you like this would scare her," Isabel whispered in his ear and suddenly Max's mind returned to him. It took a few, never ending seconds and Max realized that he had actually raised his hands against his family; the only two people alive that knew even remotely what he was going through.

He let out a moan a pure despair and leaned forward, ignoring the sting of the wounds on his back. He would take it as a well deserved punishment. I could have killed Isabel; I almost killed them all in my anger. I…Liz would never come near me again if she saw me like this…I can't…I'm…

A soothing numbness settled over him and Max retreated into himself. The last thing he remembered hearing was Michael telling Tess to stop complaining and grab hold of Nasedo so they could load him into the Jeep before taking care of Topolsky.

o0o0o

The next thing Max remembered was the feeling of being mentally cleansed as Liz's presence washed over him. The bond he'd so forcefully kept closed was bursting open and he took in everything she seemed so willing to give all of the sudden like a man dying of thirst. The fact that he could feel her lips on his was actually just an extra piece of luxury.

He was virtually drowning in happy images, that one memory of her hated cookie dress, the day they'd first been paired up in biology class, the shooting, the night at her balcony and oh my God, Max just realized that if he was receiving so easily from Liz, she was most definitely getting something in return from him and he pushed her away before he even finished thinking about it.

"Liz!" "Are you okay?" "What happened?"

She's never gonna feel the same way about me now. She's gonna be scared of me! Shit, I can't live without her again. Why can't anything ever go as we planned it? Why-

"I don't feel so good, guys."

He had Liz in his arms the second her words registered inside him. He held her close to him and took a deep, calming breath of relief when he realized that she somehow instinctively recognized him and was turning towards him for comfort with a tiny smile on her lips. She didn't seem to fear him at all.

Max frowned when he spotted the blood on her face and placed a hand on her face and quickly healed the arteries that had busted during the reopening of their bond.

Isabel's POV

About fifteen minutes after Liz had passed out, she opened her eyes again and Isabel thought that no matter how much this night had sucked, maybe it had been worth it just to see the look in the brunette's eyes as she locked eyes with Max.

There was some awkwardness in Max's posture and it was clear to them all that he still hadn't forgiven himself for his loss of control, but that he was willing to work on it instead of bottling everything up as he used to do.

Isabel looked over at Tess, who was staring at the couple with a mixture of fear and longing in her eyes. She still hadn't moved from Nasedo's side over in the corner. It was obvious that seeing Max like that had freaked her out more than she could express and she seemed unsure if her presence was even wanted.

Biting her lip, Isabel walked over to her. This is not the girl that killed Alex and manipulated us all. This is the girl, who helped protect a human and ended up watching the man she grew up with almost killed before her very eyes. Unlike the rest of us, she's never been to war.

"Tess," Isabel said with far more warmth in her tone than she'd ever expected to use around the curly haired hybrid.

Tess' gaze snapped away from Max and Liz and she tried making herself even smaller, "I'm sorry; I wasn't doing anything."

"Are you okay?" Isabel ignored the incredulous look she received from the girl in front of her and continued, "Because I think Max should take a look at your back. You hit that tree pretty hard."

"That's okay, I'm totally fine. I don't want to bother him," Tess started to say, but then she stiffened and Isabel saw Max approach out of the corner of her eye.

"Isabel is right, I should take a look at you," he said. Isabel watched him with a small smile on her lips. He too ignored, with a little less success, Tess' fear around him and gently took her hands and helped her to her feet. "I'm sorry for doing this to you." His voice was soft and Tess' visible fear seemed to fade a bit, which pleased Isabel for some reason.

A few moments later, Tess was healed and the strained look around her eyes had disappeared. She even managed to send Max a half-hearted smile.

Isabel swallowed a smile when she saw Liz glance a bit confused between them; we should be careful about jealousy and misunderstandings this time around. We don't need another future Max to come snooping around and messing things up even more.

"Not to be a total buzz kill," Michael's voice sounded from the background and they all turned towards him. He shrugged and pointed at Nasedo's prone form on the floor. "What are we gonna do about that one?"

Isabel fully expected Max to wash his hands of the older alien, but to her surprise he turned towards Tess. "What do you think?"

"You can't heal him," Tess said in a small tone, her eyes glued to the ground, "He said something once that if he was ever severely injured, we'd need some sort of stones…Even your powers won't be enough, Max. Besides, it's not like he deserves your kindness after what he did to that poor woman…"

"We have the stones." Isabel heard herself confess. She would never understand what made her say that, but something had begun to shift inside her that night. Tess might be more than the bitch that had killed Alex. Maybe. "I'll help heal him if we all agree."

Isabel looked at Max, who looked at Michael, who simply shrugged again. "As long as he gets it into his skull that he's not the boss around here, I don't care."

Out of habit, Isabel looked over at Liz for her vote before remembering that the girl in front of her wasn't the Liz that had come up with a sneaky plan to get Sheriff Valenti off their back once upon a time.

Liz licked her lips nervously and then said quietly, "I'm still not completely sure what happened, but it's really your decision, not mine."

Isabel looked at them all one last time, before walking over to the pod where she'd originated from and took out the bag of healing stones that they'd hit there during their last visit. She turned to Max and saw that he had already directed Tess to sit next to Nasedo and that Michael was quickly explaining what was about to take place. A few moments later, the large hybrid placed himself next to Tess.

Isabel walked over and sat next to the waiting Max and they each took a stone, ignoring the confused, yet very interested look that Tess sent them all. We've got to come up with some kind of reason to give her for all our knowledge, Isabel thought, centering her powers like she remembered having done once before.

It didn't take long before the healing was complete and Nasedo's eyes snapped open. His eyes landed on Tess first, looking the girl over closely and for the first time ever, Isabel thought she saw some inkling of genuine affection in the older alien's face. Then his eyes turned to Michael, then her before settling on Max.

Isabel watched in amazement as Nasedo only briefly met Max's eyes before looking at the ground as he slowly sat up. He folded his hands and remained seated without a word. He looked nothing short of submissive, Isabel concluded. It's like the fight was nothing but a dominance fight between alpha males and now that he's lost, he's gonna fall in line. This has got to be one of the weirdest things I've ever seen.

The look of bewilderment that her brother sent her, told Isabel that Max hadn't quite connected the dots yet, so she reached out and touched his wrist with her finger, 'You won, Max and he's submitting to you, so say something.'

"Did our healing work successfully?" Was all Max eventually asked after a few more minutes of tense silence.

Apparently, that wasn't exactly what Nasedo had expected and he looked up with a small frown. Isabel rolled her eyes inwardly when the older male didn't answer, but just continued to stare at Max. "Did we somehow make your tongue vanish? It's not a hard question."

"I am in working order," Nasedo quickly replied and returned to stare at the floor. "I am just waiting for my punishment. I disobeyed my king's orders."

"I thought you'd think the ass kicking he gave you would be punishment enough," Michael said and got to his feet.

Nasedo's lip twisted upwards in a small attempt at a smile, "I'd absolutely prefer for that to be the case, General, but experiences has taught me to always be prepared for more in these cases."

General? How did he know that's what Michael was called in our first timeline? Isabel panicked before she remembered that in Nasedo's world, Michael had indeed been a general too and was thus worthy of the title.

"Will you follow your orders from now on?" Max spoke again and this time, his voice seemed sterner and Nasedo's reaction was promptly. He straightened up and folded his hands over his chest so that his fingers touched his shoulders. From Isabel's memories of Serena's countless etiquette lectures, she knew that that position indicated complete obedience and respect.

"I will do as my King commands." Nasedo glanced over at Michael and Isabel and added, "and his royal family as well."

Liz moved in the background and Nasedo's eyes landed on her. Immediately, Isabel wanted to jump in front of the brunette, just in case Nasedo's submissiveness had been a big act. To her surprise, Nasedo simply nodded once in Liz's direction before settling his eyes back on the silently observing Tess. "I think we have to make a new destiny for you. There is no longer a chance of reuniting you with your king."

"I'm glad you've come to your senses," Isabel couldn't quite resist saying and she shrugged off the mild glare that Tess sent her way and got to her feet. "I'll go check on Topolsky."

Hearing the name of the woman he'd intended to murder in cold blood, interrupted Nasedo's silent stare at Tess (she seemed like she couldn't quite make up her mind whether to look relieved that he was okay, or lash out now that he'd witnesses his heartlessness first hand) and he turned his head in Isabel's direction. "She's here?"

"Yes," Max answered as he made his way back over to Liz. It was like he couldn't keep himself away from her now that he'd been allowed to bond himself to her again. "I hope you do not have a problem with that."

Nasedo averted his eyes at the almost reprimand and replied, "I honestly thought that you'd have used Tess' gift and made the human woman forget this night had ever happened."

"We are not big fans of mindwarping," Isabel said heatedly and fought back her old resentment for Tess again. She reminded herself off the thoughts she'd had about Tess just minutes before and calmed down. "We took her into the granolith chamber to wait for whatever drug you gave her to wear off. Also, we didn't want to make a decision until Max was ready again. So what do you think we should do?" Isabel directed her last question at Max.

"Wait, you know about the granolith?" Nasedo asked with widened eyes, his eyes darting from each of them with growing confusion on his face. "How is it that you know all of these things? The message in Antarian script to get us here in the first place, the advanced combat skills that Max showed off in our battle, the knowledge about me having to follow your orders? I would appreciate an answer."

Isabel fidgeted, waiting for one of the others to answer Nasedo's questions. On the inside she was cursing herself for forgetting that Nasedo was an extremely intelligent man and that she really should have expected his questions.

"We know things and let's leave it at that," Max said a few seconds later. He looked Nasedo straight in the eyes, reminding the other of his place without directly saying it. "Isabel, go check on Topolsky, please. I want to know if she require medical help after everything."

Isabel nodded and walked over to the pod that led into the granolith chamber. She ignored the feeling of disgust that she always got whenever her hands touched the goo that she'd been preserved in and finally entered the chamber. Her eyes met a pair of petrified blue ones a moment later. "What are you gonna do to me? I swear I won't say anything to my boss; I'll go away, I promise…"

Apparently, Kathleen Topolsky was now fully awake and in deep panic mode. Not that I blame her after the night she's had, Isabel thought with a sigh. She held up a hand, hoping to calm the blonde agent, as she turned her head and yelled through the passageway, "She's up."

Isabel turned her attention back at the now gasping Topolsky, she was one breath away from hyperventilating and Isabel quickly reached her side. "Relax, we're not gonna hurt you. Take a deep breath, that's right. Relax."

Isabel had just managed to somewhat calm the trembling woman before Nasedo appeared, quickly followed by Max and the others. The moment Topolsky laid eyes on her would be killer; she did the only thing any sensible person would do. She opened her mouth and screamed.

TBC…


	13. Isabel, Alex and Max

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Isabel's POV

Isabel was dreaming, she knew that deep down inside, but it didn't stop her heart from threatening to jump out of her throat as she witnessed the scene play out as it had done once upon a time.

She was sitting in their hidden headquarters, looking out of the window with a melancholy expression on her face. The stars was bright and the happy internal flashes of Alex's smiling face calmed her down in a way nothing else could; she'd never truly gotten over losing him. But for once the memory of Alex didn't completely soothe her.

The reason for this was simple; her heart was still trying to accept the death of her best friend. Kyle, who'd pushed her and Max out of the way and died in their place barely a month earlier.

Even in the dream world, Isabel's chest constricted at the mere thought of that day and her dream self quickly looked up at the night sky again just like she'd done in real life once. And just as it had happened that time, Serena suddenly showed up next to the silent Isabel, handing her a steaming cup of coffee laced with Tabasco sauce.

The young human girl didn't say anything, she simply settled down next to Isabel in silence. It was Isabel who eventually broke the comfortable quiet between them.

"Do you ever regret it? I mean, you came to us with all that knowledge seared into your brain all of the sudden and your life was never normal after meeting us."

Serena's youthful face with her old eyes turned pensive and she took a sip of her own beverage before answering quietly, "No, I don't. Not even a little bit." She shrugged and continued when Isabel looked dubious, "If it hadn't been for Max, I'd have been dead years ago. We all would. He saved us and yeah, there were some unexpected prizes to be paid for that but still, we got to live longer that we ever dreamed of." Serena chuckled and gently bumped her shoulder into Isabel's, "And I got to know all kinds of cool stuff so I'm not complaining."

"You're just barely sixteen years old, Serena," Isabel pointed out, finally looking at the other girl, who she'd practically come to consider as her sister. "And you're acting like you're sixty most of the time. So don't lie to me please. I know this life sucks."

Serena put her coffee aside and turned to Isabel with a frown marring her features, "I'll admit there were times that I wanted out of this; times where I wanted nothing more than to crawl into my mom's arms and just hide from everything. Then the knowledge started pouring in and soon I was building things that shouldn't even be possible." Serena sighed and grabbed Isabel's shoulders firmly, "I might have lived a violent life so far, Iz, but I've never felt less alone. I have a purpose now. I truly believe that there was a reason Max saved me and the other kids that night in the hospital. We were all needed to, maybe, like safe the world and that, my dear princess, makes everything totally worth it. Now stop wishing for better times and focus on what you still have, I'm not gonna be around to help you all the time you know…Now get up and mourn later, we still have a war to win."

The piece of Isabel that knew that she was in the middle a dreamscape of one of her memories wanted to stop the dream from progressing. Because she vividly remembered that this had been the last time she'd seen Serena alive. Ten minutes later their headquarters were breached by Khivar's second, Caden, who managed to take Max and Serena with him and injure the others gravely. A week later, Max stumbled back into their midst without her, looking like he was barely hanging on.

Suddenly, Serena's deep voice echoed all around the dreaming hybrid's mind, "I've never felt less alone. I have a purpose now…"

Isabel's eyes opened slowly and she took a deep, calming breath. She could feel the half dried tears on her face as she sat up a few minutes later. It was the first time since reentering the past that Serena's memory had invaded Isabel's dreams.

Serena Jamison had been both a younger and older sister to Isabel at the same time. Despite her young age, the girl had managed to work her way into their midst and become a part of them in a way that none of the other special kids had. Maybe because she was the most powerful of them all? Isabel pondered tiredly as she started making her way towards the bathroom to shower before school. Of all the kids that Max healed that Christmas, Serena was the one with the most unexpected power. If it hadn't been for her and those kids we'd have been dead a lot sooner…Sometimes I wonder if that would have been a bad thing? No, don't think like that Iz, it's not good to dwell on those things.

On the way to the bathroom, Isabel ran into Max, who looked exhausted, but happier than she'd seen him since Liz had made him cut their bond. His amber eyes immediately zoomed in on the forgotten tear trails on her face and he stopped dead in his tracks, "Are you okay?"

"I think we need to have another meeting," Isabel said, not realizing that she'd even planned to say it out loud in the first place, "we have some things to discuss."

Max eyed her for what seemed a lot longer than the few seconds it really was, but then nodded. "Dad came home a few hours ago, so I don't think Mom's up yet. I'll make some breakfast and call Michael while you get ready." He walked past her, but then stopped and tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder, "If you need to…" he trailed off and Isabel smiled sadly.

"I know I can always come to you, but we both know that these dreams aren't gonna go away no matter how much we talk about them. I'd rather just forget about them and move on. See you downstairs in a bit."

A little while later, Isabel entered the kitchen and smiled a bit when she saw the "breakfast" that her brother had made for her. "Wow," Isabel teased, "I'm so impressed at your kitchen skills. Did you strain yourself when you grabbed the milk for the cereal in the fridge?"

Max shrugged and to Isabel's secret delight, he transformed his face into a rarely seen mischievous mask, "Well, I did have to reach quite high to the bowl in the cupboard."

"You're a dork," Isabel said and slid onto the stool at the kitchen counter to begin her breakfast.

The two siblings ate in amiable silence for a few minutes, until Max finished and looked over at Isabel with a serious look in his eyes. "So, want to let me in on what's bothering you? I can almost taste the tension around you."

Sighing, Isabel got up and rinsed her bowl before putting it into the dishwater. "There's not much to say. Besides, I thought we agreed to wait until Michael was with us?"

"Anyone talking about me, my ears are burning?" Michael's gruff voice suddenly sounded from the doorway.

Isabel spun around with a slight gasp, but then she glared half-heartedly at Max, who looked innocently up at her. "Did you ask him to come? I just thought you'd arrange something for after school, Max. Michael is just as tired as us, he needs to sleep too."

"And," Michael added, sitting down and unceremoniously stealing Max's yet to be finished second bowl of cereal, "he's here now so stop stalling."

"How did you get here so fast?" Max asked as he handed Michael the box of cereal, "I didn't expect you so soon."

"Hank drove me," Michael muttered, he kept his gaze on the counter and continued eating. He expertly ignored the questioning looks his fellow hybrids were giving him.

Isabel kept staring at him until he finally huffed with an embarrassed air about him, "He wanted to do something nice for me for once, so I let him. Besides," Michael's embarrassment turned into his usual seriousness, "he knew I needed to talk to Phillip today, so he wanted to kill two birds with one stone."

"Why do you wanna talk to Dad?" Isabel asked, and sat back down at the counter next to Max. "He just came home from a business trip, so I don't think he's gonna leave Mom's side until later today. "

Trying to ignore the mildly nauseating thought that her parents might be having …'relations' at that moment, Isabel waited for Michael's answer.

Michael finished pouring his breakfast and then looked at her and the silent Max. "Hank's gonna go admit himself to a treatment center over in Albuquerque, so we decided that I should talk to Phillip about getting emancipated. That way," Michael shrugged, "we can make sure I get my old apartment back and we'll have a place for ourselves. I don't know, I thought it was a good idea and this time, Hank didn't have to die or anything…"

He really has come a long way, Isabel thought fondly, sending Michael a beaming smile. Just like that he's figured out a way for us to have a place where we can stop acting like teenagers and just be ourselves, like he said.

"That's a really good idea," Isabel finally said, when Michael's look of embarrassment returned and he dug into his breakfast to avoid looking at the Evans kids any longer. Max still hadn't said anything; he was just looking quietly at his second in command with a vaguely impressed look on his face like he was having some of the same thoughts that Isabel was.

"Whatever," Michael muttered and after a few more mouthfuls of his meal, he looked over at Max and nodded with his chin in Isabel's direction, as if to remind the dark haired hybrid of Isabel's unspoken issue.

Max's dark eyes landed on Isabel and they shone with seriousness and Isabel knew she had no more reasons to stall. "Fine," she began, before Max could even get a word in. "I wanted to talk you both about something that I think that we've sort of avoided talking about."

The male aliens shared a concerned look and turned their full attention on Isabel. "We need to figure out what to do with The Unit, and more importantly what about Serena?"

Max's look of resigned sadness didn't surprise Isabel. After the talk she'd had with Max not too long ago at this very place in the kitchen, she'd kinda expected him to breach the subject before her. Michael's expression on the other hand was another matter entirely.

He looked absolutely livid. His lips were pressed together and he'd clenched his fingers so hard around the spoon that their tips were beginning to turn white. Also, Isabel noticed with a bit of nervousness, the glass on the microwave next to the fridge was beginning to creak ominously.

"No." He said after a few seconds of ice cold silence. "We don't have to decide anything about those kids. Not one damned thing, so drop it."

"What? So we just ignore the fact that if we don't heal those kids, they'll die in a few years of cancer?"

Michael's face turned to stone, but his eyes pierced Isabel with his raw emotions, "Millions of kids die every day; this will no different."

"Michael!" Isabel gasped, but before she could do anything else, Michael leapt to his feet with a ferocious scowl etched on his features.

"If we wait and go to the hospital during that Christmas, not only will we be jeopardizing our entire mission here, but we know what kind of powers they'll all develop. Neither of you lived with a wife, whose abilities made her an echo of her former self. None of you spent the same amount of time with those kids as me and Liz did. We saw how it all affected them. I wouldn't wish that on my biggest enemy. And you seem to forget that all of them," Michael's gaze burned into Isabel like a flame, "all of them died before their sixteenth birthday – including Serena."

Isabel glanced over at Max for some kind of support to calm down this unexpected bundle of anger she'd unknowingly woken up, but her brother was just looking at Michael with that awful dead look in his eyes that he always wore whenever memories of their past raged within him. Michael spoke again, drawing Isabel's attention back to him.

"Including our precious Serena; the little beautiful girl that somehow got the entire Antarian knowledge seared into her brain in exchange for Max's healing. The vivacious little human being that I loved like the little sister I never had; the-" Michael's voice turned hoarse as he battled a choking sob, "child that held me in my arms for an entire day when I couldn't leave Maria's grave and promised me that everything was gonna be okay again…They all died, Isabel before their sixteenth birthday, and all because of us. So no, I don't want this to happen again, and Max isn't gonna heal them, he's gonna let them live their short lives the way nature intended it."

Oh, Michael, Isabel bit her tongue to keep from saying it out loud, knowing he'd only scoff at her well meant pity. Her entire body ached with sympathy; sometimes she simply forgot how close Michael had been with those healed children – Serena especially. It was like he'd seen something of himself in them all and he'd done everything he could to keep them alive and happy. Only to see them all die one by one, Isabel remembered with an exhausted sigh that came from the very depth of her soul.

"We need-" she tried, but Michael once again cut through her objections like steel.

"We don't need anything or anyone of them. We already know everything Serena knew. There's no reason to drag her back into this life; I'm not gonna risk it all happening to her again, to any of them."

"You don't think we'll succeed."

The words didn't come from Isabel; it was Max, who'd finally decided to speak up and join the debate. Isabel and Michael turned to face the still sitting Max with frowns on their faces. "What?" they asked in unison.

Max's lips twisted into a parody of a smile as he replied quietly without missing a beat, "You're not sure that we'll succeed in changing things. Ergo, you don't want Serena and Sydney and Brian and the rest of them to die for us. I understand that fear, I even share it now that we've invited Nasedo and Tess into our lives."

Michael didn't speak and Isabel thought again how odd it was to see this mature, grown up Michael trapped inside the teenage body of him. In the old days, he'd probably have been the one to fight Nasedo and those jocks and lose his temper left and right, but this is truly the first time I've seen him really angry since we returned to this life, Isabel added mentally.

"But I'm not gonna let those kids die, Michael." Max's tone was firm and he didn't flinch like Isabel did when Michael swore and slammed his fists into the tabletop with a bang.

"Damn it Maxwell," Michael hissed through gritted teeth, avoiding drawing Diane and Phillip's attention by outright yelling in anger.

"You forget some things Michael," Max continued on, the perfect picture of stoic calmness, "Those kids didn't die as children. They died as soldiers for a cause that wasn't their own and saving their lives in this world is the only way I can repay them for that. Screw the consequences." During the last part, they could all feel the temperature drop a few degrees around them and it was the only sign of Max's growing agitation.

Michael and Max stared at each other and it was the first time in a long time that Isabel had seen them so at odds with one another. After a few moments, she walked between them and placed her hands on each of their shoulder, squeezing them gently.

"We won't get anywhere if we keep disagreeing like this, guys." She whispered, looking at them both with what she hoped was soft reproach in her eyes, "I realize that things are changing and not all of it is entirely good if we think about Topolsky and the other two, but I know for a fact that Serena didn't regret being in our lives so I want to make sure that she lives to see her seventeenth birthday this time around. We just need a plan to heal them and not jeopardize ourselves here in Roswell. I'm not itching for another war after all."

After a few tense minutes of silence, where Isabel resisted the urge to fidget nervously (because Isabel Evans do not fidget; not now, not ever), Michael sighed and relaxed and Max's eyes started to resemble those of a human being once more.

They tried figuring out a way to complete this newest task of theirs as they walked to the Jeep and made their way to the school a few moments later. It wasn't until Max turned into the parking lot that Isabel suddenly had a bright idea.

"What if we heal them independently?" She ignored the confused looks on the other two's faces and explained, "I mean, if we seek them out one by one and heal them before their illness gets them admitted into the hospice? It would draw a lot less attention and with the hacker skills that we all developed over the years, finding out where they live should be an easy thing to do."

"And," Michael continued when Isabel trailed off uncertainly, "when I get my own apartment, it'll be easier for us to sneak away and do it. All Max has to do is say that he's spending the night at my place and that'll be that. That's a good idea Iz."

They both turned in tandem and looked at Max to see if he had any better ideas or any objections to their plan. Isabel's mood soared when she caught a glimpse of the smile Max couldn't quite hide and she knew he was in. This is just the best day ever, she grinned silently and followed her two fellow time travelers out the jeep and towards the school.

Alex's POV

This is just the worst day ever, Alex thought morosely as he settled into his seat in English class.

As he waited for his teacher to arrive, Alex thought back to the day he'd had so far. He had barely slept all night, waking up every half hour with this odd, almost painful ache inside of him. At one point, he'd even woken up with tears on his face, which had been when he'd gotten up feeling way too confused and annoyed to even try and go back to sleep.

Then as he'd gotten into the shower, the water was freezing and his mom had forgotten to buy him some new soap, so he'd ended up using some of that hideously smelling concoction that his grandmother had sent him last Christmas.

During breakfast, Alex had actually heaved as he'd been in the middle of inhaling those normally so delicious hash browns and bacon that his dad always made. His insides had felt like they were trying to escape him as violently as possible. Then to make matters even worse, he'd had this peculiar feeling of frustration, fear and profound sadness echoing through him while having to listen to his parents' mild lecture on eating disorders and the five signs to spot it at an early stage.

Finally he'd escaped the house, jumped on his bike only to realize it had a flat tire and then he'd been forced to walk to school because his parents had already left for their work, feeling like a complete and utter loser. So, safe to say; Alex was not having one of his best days.

His only bright spot of the day so far, was when Isabel walked into class next to her brother. How is it even possible to look so gorgeous all the time? Alex wondered with a wistful smile and quickly looked down on his yellow note pad, when Isabel suddenly moved her head in his direction.

He hadn't spoken to the object of his devotions since that night where she'd shown up and somehow launched on to him with all the power of a leech. Not that he'd complained or anything; no any time that beautiful girl wanted to be near him, was okay with him.

It was just, Alex thought to himself, recalling the look of desperation that had been in Isabel's eyes that evening, she looked so broken and vulnerable. Nothing like the Amazon she portrays at school. And then after fifteen too short minutes in my arms, she just kissed my cheek, whispered good night and left and I haven't spoken to her since…

"Good morning, Alex." Isabel's cheerful voice interrupted Alex's musings and he looked up with an embarrassingly loud startled yelp. He could feel his cheeks beginning to burn when most of the other kids in the class turned in their seats and looked at him with mocking smirks.

One scalding look from Isabel quickly made them turn back to whatever it was they'd been doing and although he'd have thought it impossible, Alex fell in love with her even more in that moment. "Hey Isabel."

The young beauty smiled and sat down next to him, leaning over casually like she'd done it many times before. "I was thinking if we should have a second date soon? Maybe this time, it could be during the evening; maybe a movie and something to eat afterwards?"

Hell yeah! Alex's teenage mind roared inside of him, bringing forth images upon images of what could happen after that date, if he played his cards right. The more realistic division of Alex's conscious scolded that horny part of him and he smiled at Isabel. "That's a great idea, I'd love to…err, I mean, I'll, tonight or uhm…"

Hating his bumbling speech, Alex stopped talking and shrugged with an apologetic smile, hoping he didn't scare the popular girl off with his idiocy. Fortunately it seemed as though said girl liked his awkwardness and she only smiled wider. "So wanna meet at the movie tonight at, let's say 7.30; we'll figure out what to watch when we get there and see where the night takes us?"

This day has just become a whole lot better; Alex decided and nodded eagerly at Isabel's suggestion. He still wondered why she seemed to like him, or what she might possibly be after, but he shoved those thoughts as far back into his mind as he could and simply enjoyed the moment.

He didn't get a chance to talk any more with Isabel, because the door to the classroom finally opened. To his surprise it wasn't his usual English teacher that walked in. It was an average looking man, who was balding a bit on the top and wearing an ugly plaid shirt and a smile so friendly that it practically oozed fakeness.

"Hello class; your regular teacher has called in sick for a longer period of time due to some sort of personal problem and I'll be your substitute teacher for the duration of his absence. I'm Mister Edward Harding, pleased to meet you."

Alex's insides churned again, and he just knew without a shadow of a doubt that the man in front of him wasn't who he said he was. How, he had no idea, but there was something off that Alex just zoomed in on. It didn't help that he could feel something along the lines of anger twisting inside of him, just above his navel and in his chest.

Unable to explain why, Alex glanced over at Isabel and it was in that moment he realized that whatever it was that Liz and Maria was trying to hide from him, had something to do with the young woman next to him.

Isabel was looking pale, but she seemed like she would rather die than show any kind of weakness in front of the substitute teacher and the way the teacher briefly looked at not only Isabel, but a stone-faced Max as well, told Alex that he was part of the riddle shrouding the people in Alex's life.

It might not be the best way to do this, Alex thought and prepared to concentrate on Harding's lecture, but I'll try to see if I can find out something on our date tonight. He wisely ignored the little voice inside of him that urged him to just let it go and wait for the truth to unravel on its own. He just couldn't ignore his curiosity anymore. And I'm sure that whatever it is can't be that bad. We're just sixteen after all…

Max's POV

When I woke up, I was so sure that today was going to be a good day, Max thought as he gathered his books off his table after English class. He tried to act as though today was just like all the other days so he wouldn't cause a scene, but he was silently fuming.

Nasedo hasn't exactly broken any rules, Max tried to calm himself as he now stood without moving, waiting for the horde of his classmates to leave the room so he could confront Nasedo without witnesses. Isabel seemed to know what he was planning, because she sent a charming smile Alex's way and stayed behind as well.

To calm himself down a little, Max thought about the good progress that Isabel was seemingly having with Alex, the happy gleam in Michael's eyes whenever he laid eyes on Maria and of course, Max's mood lifted at the very thought, Liz's and his relationship was now back on track after she'd reopened their connection.

He valiantly ignored the part of him that despondently reminded him that after he'd driven Liz home the night before, he'd felt nothing but anxiety and confusion through their bond.

A movement out of the corner of his eye brought Max back to the present and he saw Nasedo close the door to give them a small semblance of privacy.

Immediately after the door clicked closed, Isabel pounced from her seat and asked coldly, "what do you think you're doing? Being a teacher all of the sudden? When did we even agree to that? If you even think about laying one hand on anyone again, I swear I'll make you regret even reaching puberty!"

Nasedo held up a placating hand and he acted confidently as usual, but Max smirked inwardly when he spotted the slight unease in the older alien's eyes when they landed on him, no doubt trying to read his reaction. "I assure you, I have no ill intentions this time, Miss Evans."

"Why aren't you trying to infiltrate the Special Unit?" Max asked softly, taking a hold of Isabel's hand and thought out to her, 'Calm down, I have a hunch that he's being honest for once…or as honest as he can be to anyone'.

The alien lowered his hand and nodded politely to the still steaming Isabel and turned his full gaze on Max's for a second, before looking down in the customary submissive pose that he'd adopted ever since the incident in the desert.

"It is my preliminary assessment that the issue revolving the Special Unit and Agent Pierce, although a potential danger, is still manageable. Our main focus at this point should be directed towards Kathleen Topolsky. Her loyalty to her boss, not to mention her country, will make her silence exceedingly difficult if she is not continuously reminded of my existence."

Max nodded once, still keeping Isabel's hand firmly in his and Nasedo continued with an almost hesitant tone in his voice, "If you do not agree with my actions, I would suggest using Tess' ability to-"

"No," Isabel couldn't hold her tongue any longer and Max felt her rip her hand free from his death grip, "We will not use mindwarping as an easy fix. You created this problem in the first place and need to find a solution!"

"I think he just did," Max pointed out, hating to agree with the alien, who'd turned murderer in the name of protection of the Royal Four. He met Isabel's glare head on until he could see her eyes soften a fraction and then he turned his head and looked at Nasedo. He waited until the other man met his eyes briefly and then tried to let all his authority shine through him in a show of power, "I agree with your plan, but mark my words; if you fail us again, I won't heal you after we're done with you this time. Do you understand?"

Nasedo's eyes widened a bit at the threat, but then he sighed gently and nodded. "Yes, I do understand." He grabbed his bag and pulled out a small sheet of paper that he handed to Max, "this is my numbers in case of any emergencies. I already have all of yours. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to Kathleen's office and make sure she's behaved so far."

"Don't be a…" Isabel started to say, but then stopped when Nasedo simply nodded and left before she could finish her admonishment.

The Evans siblings stood in silence for a few seconds, and Max could tell that Isabel was just about to vent about everything when they both suddenly felt the telltale signs of something primal inside of them that signaled that Michael had just had a huge flare of emotional outburst and they both instantly begun making their way to him, feeling him through their shared bond; a weaker type of the one they had with the loved ones in their lives.

They found him a few minutes later in the school's computer lab, standing face to face with a scowling Johnny with a slightly freaked out looking Kyle Valenti standing in-between them. The sheriff's son was bleeding from his nose and it was clear he'd been hit, but it was hard to tell from the look on the other two's faces just who had thrown the punch.

Just like I thought earlier, Max thought, tiredly running a hand through his dark hair, this day seemed to start on a good note. Next time that happens, I'll just stay in bed.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Next time in The Antarian Timetravellers: Kyle's pov and there might be a little Candy moment next time as well:)
> 
> Until Next Time


	14. Kyle, Maria and Tess

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Kyle's POV

"Kyle, Buddy, it's time to get up."

Kyle groaned; annoyance clearly portrayed as he struggled to come out of one of those strangely comforting dreams he'd been having lately. Oddly enough, the only thing he remembered from them was the sense of belonging and nothing else.

"Son, are you up?" Kyle heard his father ask a few minutes later, and he finally rolled out of bed and started doing his usual pushups.

"Yeah, Dad," he replied with a yawn, "I'm coming."

A half an hour later, Kyle had finished his shower and dressed. He walked out into the small kitchen where his dad was standing, holding a big cup of steaming hot coffee. The smell had its usual affect on Kyle and he smiled when he took the pot from the coffee machine and poured himself a cup.

"So," his dad asked after a few moments where they stood in their usual awkward silence, enjoying their beverage, "what's the plan for today?"

You were supposed to come to my match last night, Kyle thought with an inwardly sneer, but as you've done more and more lately, you let your work come first. So today I'm probably gonna scowl and treat you like the inattentive parent that you are…

Out loud, Kyle settled on shrugging carelessly and muttering, "Not much."

"Well, okay then. I'll see if I can be home early tonight so we can go to the Crashdown and have something to eat together that neither of us have actually tried to make. How's that sound?"

Like you want to sit and covertly stare at Liz Parke with big questions in your eyes, like you've done for the last month, Kyle thought icily, but again; he simply shrugged without a word and finished his coffee, eager to get away from his father.

A little while later, Kyle was on his way to pick up Johnny. His teammate had lost his driving privileges when he'd come stumbling home that night with Evans after yet another fight. Kyle honestly didn't know which one of them was most irritated about that fact. Johnny was a really big complainer. And that's all he did during the ride to school; every single day.

Maybe he's sick today, Kyle thought hopefully. Of course, the hope crashed and burned when he turned a corner and spotted Johnny standing by the road in front of his house.

"Yo Man," Johnny greeted when he jumped inside Kyle's car, "you're cutting it kindda close. At least call me or something when you know you're gonna be late."

Okay, Kyle commented – again internally – who died and made you my date for the day? He nodded once to Johnny and just continued driving.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Kyle observed Johnny's profile. He was no longer red, yellow and blue in the face, but after the night of the infamous fight, his nose now sported an unflattering crack in the middle that gave him the mother of all hooknoses.

Turning up the music to avoid actually talking to Johnny as he mumbled something about missing his car, Kyle's mind drifted to where it normally went these days.

It went to the evening where Liz had chewed him out in public and left, never to look at him again. Kyle still felt a bit defensive about all that had happened during their non-date. He'd only been trying to warn her after all. But Kyle hadn't been able to forget some of the more valid points the brunette girl had made during her rant. Why did his friends engage in a fight with Max Evans of all people? He was the most unassuming guy in school.

Or, Kyle amended with a sigh; at least he used to be. Lately, he's been showing up to school wearing something else than his usual sweaters, he never looks away anymore. He meets people's stares head on and he practically screams danger. It's kindda freaking me out…

Although, Kyle continued to himself as he neared the high school, it's funny that he and Guerin always go out of their way to nod at me whenever they see me. And let's not forget about Isabel.

Kyle frowned as the image of Isabel Evans popped into his head. If he hadn't seen how Isabel's eyes always followed Alex Whitman around with something akin to adoration, he'd have sworn she had a thing for him.

Isabel's eyes were mostly big and shiny when they landed on Kyle. She seemed like she wanted to talk to him and one time, during a free period that him and his friends had spent in the quad outside, she'd walked by as he'd finished telling a pretty crude joke. Unceremoniously, she'd reached out and slapped him in the back of the head without a word and scarcely a glance like a long time friend.

While his friends had laughed and tried to get him to admit he was "hitting that", Kyle had felt this weird déjà vu. Like this hadn't been the first time she'd hit him or reprimanded him for his usage of the English language.

"Dude, are you alive over there?" Johnny's voice ripped Kyle out of his ponderings and he looked over at his teammate. That was another peculiar thing, Kyle had realized; he no longer felt like Johnny was his friend, let alone his best friend. More and more lately, he'd wanted to keep chatting with Whitman after P.E, or oddly enough, actually return one of Evans and Guerin's nods with one of his own.

But he didn't, instead Kyle simply tried to ignore those urges and focus more on his old friend – no matter how annoying said person was. "I'm breathing and my hearts beating, so yeah I'm pretty sure I'm alive," Kyle finally answered his impatient looking teammate.

"Good, 'cause you're weirding me out." Johnny spat and jumped out of the car and that's when Kyle noticed that he'd arrived at the school, parked the car all without really seeing. Luckily I didn't run over someone, Kyle thought with a wry smile and exited his car as well.

Ten minutes later, he entered his first class of the day and spotted Johnny and his other friend, Damien, sitting in the back. Johnny gestured at the empty seat next to him and Kyle grimaced on the inside; he really wasn't in the mood to sit next to them today. He looked around the classroom and saw an available seat next to the new girl, Tess.

Tess was a conundrum to Kyle. On her first day he thought he'd been making a decent headway into getting the girl to like him, but then she'd never looked at him again. In fact, he was sort of convinced that the curly haired newbie was doing her best to avoid him.

Well, either I sit next to the idiots in the back or the weird chick in the front. Kyle thought before quickly falling into the seat next to Tess.

She looked over at him with shock in her eyes, and something more that he couldn't decipher. Happiness? Apprehension?

"Mornin' Tess," he greeted calmly and started looking through his bag for some pencils. He knew from experience that the teacher in this class expected them to take decent notes during his lectures.

"Hi Kyle," Tess's answer was quiet and he almost couldn't hear it, but at least she did respond. Before he got a chance to do much more than send her a small smile, the teacher walked in and began the lesson.

When the class ended, Tess dropped her book as she was putting her things away and Kyle quickly bent down to get it for her. When he looked up at her from his kneeling position, he spotted a blush on her pale cheeks and smirked. Maybe she's not avoiding me because she doesn't like me.

Tess sent him a smile that did things to his nether regions that he hoped she didn't notice. Fortunately for Kyle, Tess' gaze never left his so she didn't note anything out of the ordinary with him. "I'm glad you're not mad at me or anything," Kyle stated when he stood back up to his full height. "I was a bit worried about it."

"No," Tess blurted out, "I'm sorry. I just don't do well with…well, I actually thought that I was meant to be with someone else; but err…he didn't really want me and I don't think I'll be changing his mind any time soon."

"Well, whoever he is, he's an idiot," Kyle said, inwardly cheering over the fact that Tess was single.

Tess' answering smile did strange things to his insides, so he tried to keep chatting amiably with her, but just as he was about to ask her what she'd been up to lately, Johnny came up to him with Damien in tow.

"Come on, Man," he demanded, "no time to chitchat the ladies; it's time to hang with your friends."

Kyle smiled sheepishly to Tess, who waved him off with an understanding look on her face. Inwardly hating himself for his lack of backbone, Kyle followed his two "friends."

They basically ignored him and Kyle wished that he'd just once plainly stated that he didn't want to hang with them; Johnny in particular. But I never say anything, Kyle thought angry at himself, I just keep on bottling things up and go right along with whatever it is they say or do, like some stupid coward.

Trying to cheer himself up, Kyle thought about the halfway decent talks he'd been having with Whitman after P.E. sometimes. Then he rolled his eyes mentally; oh yeah, big whoop; I only talk to the guy whenever Johnny or the rest of them aren't around. I'm so not a badass that it's getting ridiculous.

Damien punched his shoulder and brought Kyle out of his thoughts a moment later, apparently the jock was supposed to meet his girlfriend outside so he had to go. Kyle swallowed a groan of disappointment, now he was once again alone with Johnny. Tess would've been so much better company than this…

"Whoa, check that out," Johnny nudged Kyle hard and the sheriff's son was once again forced back out of his mind in into the present.

They'd just entered the computer lab, and save from one Michael Guerin, they were all alone. A fact that seemed to make Johnny's day, the jock turned to Kyle with a vicious look in his eyes, "That's Evans' best friend over there, Valenti. All alone if you get my meaning."

Kyle's eyes darted over to the large teen, who was staring intently at his screen, completely ignorant of their presence. "Err…so what?"

Johnny rolled his eyes and stepped a bit closer to Kyle, "Dude, this is the perfect set up to get back at that loser, Evans for what he did to me. He's extremely protective of his little poor friend over there. Come on, follow my lead."

Kyle watched with trepidation how Johnny strolled casually over to Guerin's seat and then unexpectedly reached out and slammed the other guy's head into the keyboard. "Dude," Kyle began hesitantly, looking around for some sort of excuse to put an end to things before they got too nasty.

"Shut up, Kyle," Johnny ordered and put a bit more weight on Guerin's surprisingly immobile head. "I'm busy right now. Just keep a look out or something."

Kyle had the wildest urge to slam into Johnny and start beating on him, but once again, his desire to just stay out of things got the better of him. Instead, Guerin spoke up for the first time; his voice a bit muffled from being squashed into the keyboard, "You are going to regret this if you don't let go of me right now, asshole."

Johnny had the audacity to laugh at that, and he leaned forward to see what Michael had been so focused on. "Oh, look here Kyle," he taunted, "It looks like little Mikey here gets his rocks off by looking at pictures of little girls."

Kyle stepped closer; his eyes briefly glanced over at the computer screen, where a picture that seemed like a school id badge showed a little girl, no more than seven or eight years old. He didn't get a chance to read the name fully, only noticing that it started with "Se".

Johnny's mocking voice interrupted him, and he looked back at his former friend with what he just knew was contempt. "Do you like little girls, Guerin? Is that why you're never trying to hook up with that hot piece of ass, Isabel? Huh?"

Kyle found himself meeting Michael's eyes and what he saw in them, finally broke that wall inside of him that would rather avoid confrontations. They were full of rage and something that Kyle saw in the mirror every day and did his best to conceal; sadness.

"Stop it, Johnny – this is low, even for you!" Kyle yelled out and walked over and pushed the other guy hard in the chest, making him stumble backwards a few steps.

Michael immediately leapt to his feet and made a sound that sounded more like a snarl. Kyle had the distinct feeling that if Kyle hadn't been present for the whole incident, Johnny wouldn't have been allowed to finish his first mocking sentence at all.

In the next moment, Johnny had regained his footing and he glared at Kyle with incredulity written in every feature, "You're actually gonna help the trailer trash dweeb over there? Valenti, you're gonna regret this!"

"Stop talking before I make you," Michael threatened and Kyle didn't doubt for one second that the larger teen was capable of doing it.

"Stay out of this," Johnny hissed, "this is between Valenti and me, Loser!"

And then Johnny slammed his fist into Kyle's face and the pain from the punch ignited Kyle's temper. He roughly pushed back his once upon a time friend, and was about to reciprocate, when he felt the air shift with something and distractedly turned to look at Michael behind him.

Instantly, the hairs in the back of his head stood up and although, he'd just wanted to hurt Johnny himself, he knew that Michael's intent was a lot deadlier than his own. So, instinctively, Kyle put up his hands and tried to keep the other two boys from attacking each other.

"You're gonna pay for that," Michael had just finished growling at Johnny, when the air suddenly seemed to become choking, making it hard on Kyle to breathe.

Time seemed to slow down, and Kyle watched what happened next as though in slow motion. The door burst open and Max and Isabel Evans stormed in with matching looks of danger; they seemed a lot older all of the sudden. Isabel gasped when she caught sight of Kyle's bloody face and seemed about ready to throttle whoever did it.

Max, in return, seemed to take in every last detail with one glance and he barked, "Michael, relax." When Michael's killer intent didn't seem to lessen, Max did something that would forever change Kyle's way of thinking. He reached out a hand and suddenly the blinds on the windows all fell down, enveloping the room in darkness, lit up only by the computers.

"Stay out of this, Max," Michael's voice was low and still full of a rage, that quite frankly creeped Kyle out.

"Yeah, Evans," Johnny choked out angrily, too busy glaring at Michael to really notice how the blinds had come down, "I'll get to you later."

Things happened pretty quick after that; Michael took a step forward, raising his hand and Kyle wanted to close his eyes because something inside of him told him that Michael's hands were a lot more dangerous than on a usual teenager. He needn't have worried though, because out of the corner of his eye, Kyle spotted Max move a fraction and the next thing he knew, Johnny and he were surrounded by this freakishly green, shimmering wall.

"Isabel, go get Maria, she'll make him get back to his senses," Max's voice was soft and quiet in the following silence.

Johnny was now blubbering and staring at the surrounding green with horror on his face. Kyle wanted to do the same, but he just had this inkling feeling that he wasn't about to be harmed, so he took a laid back attitude for once and waited. He couldn't quite stop sending a few concerned looks over at Max though.

Michael wasn't as calm as the rest of them; he kept pacing and muttering curses while alternatively sending glares of death at Johnny and a serene looking Max.

Kyle didn't know how long it had been when the door opened again and Isabel entered with not only a seemingly frantic Maria DeLuca, but to his surprise, a determined looking Tess as well.

Two minutes later, Maria had gently coaxed the still furious Michael out of the room to try and calm him down, and Isabel, Max and Tess were now having a heated discussion amongst themselves.

"I don't wanna die," Johnny whimpered next to him and Kyle sent him a look that clearly stated that he wasn't really impressed with the bully's sudden show of fear. He didn't say anything out loud, instead opting to try and listen in on the three people over by the door.

"…not understand! It's the only way; if I don't do it then they're gonna get us all in trouble. Especially the crying mess that isn't Kyle."

"No," Isabel's response was just as heated as Tess', "Mindwarping isn't the answer to everything, Tess! There's got to be another way!"

Kyle watched with growing unease, how Max suddenly raised his hand and said with a never before seen authority to him, "No matter how we might feel personally, Isabel; Tess does have a point. Johnny isn't capable of handling the truth. She's going to use her powers to help everyone involved."

"And then I'll use them on Kyle as well and-" Tess began but to Kyle's relief (and confusion), Isabel once again spoke up on his behalf with a passion that frankly puzzled him.

"Not a chance in Hell, Tess! I'll late you use your powers on Kyle the moment you're stepping over my cold dead body!"

"You're being completely irrational!" Tess roared and she cast a look over at Kyle. "I have to do this, guys; if not, I'll have to see the one person in this school that actually likes me for me, look at me with that look of fear. I won't do that when I can easily make him forget this whole thing."

Max looked over at Kyle and then back at Tess with a frown on his face. He still didn't say anything, letting the two girls vent their frustration on each other.

"I don't care if he looks at you with hate, Tess," Isabel stated coldly, her voice back to normal level, "he can handle the truth so don't lay a hand on him. Concentrate on Mr. Weepy instead. Max, take down your shield."

A second later, Kyle watched in a mix between fascination and nerves, how the shimmering wall around him evaporated soundlessly. Johnny immediately went for the door, but Max stopped him with one stare that seemed to penetrate Johnny more effectively than any punch could have.

"Do it now, Tess," Max ordered quietly, and Kyle swallowed with shock as he watched the small blonde reach up and place her fingertips on Johnny's temples and close her eyes.

It didn't take long, whatever it was she was doing, before she reopened her eyes and stepped back. Johnny seemed to shake off his earlier terror like a dog shaking out the water in its fur after a walk in the rain. Then he frowned and looked around at them, his eyes settling on Kyle.

"Are you coming or what, Dude? I can't be late for math today, I'm seriously about to flunk and I'm not interested in summer school this year. I'll save you a seat." And then he left the room, not even commenting on the fact that Kyle's face was covered in dried blood from a punch he'd delivered himself.

It's like he didn't even see it, Kyle thought and eyed the three people in front of him warily. On some level he just knew they weren't about to hurt him, but still, it never hurt to be cautious. Also, he was beginning to tire of that internal part of him that kept just knowing things.

Tess wouldn't meet his eyes and she was the first one to leave. Max stepped forward, only to be stopped by Isabel's hand on his arm. They shared a look and then Max walked out of the room as well, leaving Kyle alone with Isabel for the first time since…well, ever really.

Isabel looked at Kyle with so much warmth that he had to remind himself that she was hung up on Alex Whitman and not him. She looked around the room and grabbed an abandoned notebook, and then Kyle got yet another shock as he watched the thing turn into a bag of tissues.

"Here," Isabel said and handed them to him, "clean your face and I'll fill you in on what you just saw." Her smile turned teasing, "So, it all began with a little thing you probably know as the 1947 crash incident."

Maria's POV

Rage. Fury. Wrath. It came at her from all sides, completely out of the blue.

Everything just happened so fast that Maria was up and moving before her mind had made a conscious thought to do so.

She felt as though every part of her was on fire; that part of her that was somehow connected to Michael was sending out waves that burned through her insides like a distress call. Maria didn't know how she knew, but there wasn't a doubt in her mind that Michael needed her at that moment.

She muttered something about needing a bathroom immediately, not even waiting for the teacher to give her a hall pass. The moment that she'd closed the door to the classroom, Maria broke out into a run.

She was running down the hall, letting her instincts lead her towards the boy she felt something for. As she turned a corner, Maria almost ran head into Isabel, who'd been running as well.

"Maria, there you are," Isabel panted, she took a firm hold of Maria's arm and started dragging her in the opposite direction.

Normally, Maria's nervousness around the tall Evans girl would probably have made her a quivering mess of excuses to be anywhere else, but she recognized the look of desperation on Isabel's face and simply followed suit.

They'd been jogging for a few moments; when out of nowhere, Maria saw the new girl come running towards them with a confused frown on her face. "Isabel, what's going on? I felt something ali…err," Tess stopped talking when she spotted Maria, who'd been halfway hidden behind the hybrid.

Maria knew that Tess was another hybrid, because…well, Liz was her best friend and told her pretty much everything of course. But she'd not talked to the fourth alien since her first day at school, so she would have preferred to meet her on more normal ground, but at that moment in time, everything inside of Maria was itching to find Michael, so she didn't say anything.

Isabel cut through Tess' awkwardness and simply stated with a quick nod in Maria's direction, "She knows." And then they started running again.

Maria could feel they were getting closer, so she didn't outwardly react when she heard Tess pant at Isabel with irritation in her voice, "Do you people tell every random human you come across?"

Isabel just told the curly haired hybrid to keep quiet and then slammed open the door to the computer lab and everything other than Michael, flew out of Maria's mind.

The sight before her was not one she'd expected. For the first time, she really witnessed legitimate proof of the whole group's out of world origins. The glowing green wall between Kyle and Michael was kindda hard to miss.

Maria only glanced at the shield for a second, before letting her eyes land on the pacing Michael. He was practically growling in rage, his eyes switching from the jock, Johnny and over to Max.

Maria reacted on instinct yet again. She stepped closer into the room and for one brief second, Michael's eyes landed on hers and softened a fraction. I can do this, she thought, at the same time as Isabel whispered in her ear.

"We have to calm him down or else his powers will manifest psychically and cause even more damage. We need your help, Maria."

Maria took a deep breath and took the last few steps over to Michael's side. For once she didn't allow her thoughts as to why she was apparently a better solution than Michael's lifelong friends, she just went with her gut. When Maria reached the angry hybrid, she placed her hand on his bicep and he froze. "Michael," Maria whispered, "let's go take a walk, okay?"

Michael seemed to hesitate, looking behind her at Max and then over at Johnny with his upper lip curled in distaste, "I have to-"

"Michael," Maria tried again, speaking softly as though to a wild animal, "I need you to take a walk with me, right now. You're scaring me."

It was as though she'd uttered some kind of magic words, because the second, Michael heard that she was feeling fear around him, he deflated with a heavy sigh and pressed his free hand over hers. He didn't say anything, but it was obvious that he no longer worried about getting his hands on the crying jock on the floor behind him. Maria was too preoccupied with getting through to Michael that she didn't notice the heaviness in the air return to normal once Michael was focused on her.

"Come," Maria whispered again and started making her way out the computer lab. Out of the corner of her eye, Maria noticed the look of sadness and understanding on the Evans' faces. She didn't see Tess' face, but promised herself that if the new girl had a problem with any of this, she'd make damn sure to change her mind. Once she'd talked some sense into the big teenage boy trailing along next to her like a lost puppy.

It didn't take long for Maria to find an empty classroom and she gently led Michael inside and closed the door behind them for privacy.

She stood there immobile for a moment, trying to calm herself down and distinguish which emotions inside of her were her own and which belonged entirely to the large male behind her.

Evidently, her small moment of attempted soothing didn't exactly have the same effect on Michael. He seemed to suddenly send waves of anxiety through their bond and Maria spun around on the spot.

Michael stood without moving a little behind her, he hadn't moved since she'd released her grip on his bicep to close the door. His eyes were following her every move and Maria somehow understood that he was deeply worried about having frightened her.

"Are you okay?" she asked and watched in amazement how the 'Czechoslovakian' actually flinched at the question. Feeling concerned, Maria hurried over to him. "Talk to me and whatever is going on in your head won't be so bad, I promise."

Michael's eyes closed as though he was in pain, but they snapped open, when Maria suddenly flung her arms around him. She could feel him tremble for some reason and the myriad of feelings that stormed through her from his end was too confusing to name, so she focused on simply sending calm back to him.

As she stood there, tightly holding him, Maria had the sudden urge to just press her lips against his and she finally admitted something to herself. I have feelings for him…

"Maria," her name flew from Michael's mouth in a groan and slowly, but surely, his arms came around her as well. At first, he held her like she was a delicate flower, and Maria wondered if he was afraid she'd break or something, but then he just muttered her name again and took a much more firm hold of her.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he whispered into her hair and Maria took a deep breath from his shirt; it smelled clean and it had the scent of Michael himself that Maria hadn't realized that she kindda loved. She smiled into his chest briefly before lifting her head upwards to meet Michael's troubled gaze.

"I wasn't really afraid of you, Spaceboy. I was afraid for you." The moment she said the little nickname that she'd internally called him for weeks, Michael's eyes lit up, as though hearing her call him silly names was the highlight in his life.

There was just something so vulnerable and open in his face that Maria couldn't resist placing her hands on his cheeks and gently press her lips to his as a way to portray her feelings of whatever it was she was feeling that she just couldn't quite say out loud yet.

The kiss started out innocently enough, but then it seemed like things happened all at once. Maria loved the feel of Michael's warm lips and she was about to put a bit more pressure behind her kiss, when suddenly, Michael deepened the kiss with far more expertise than she'd have thought him capable of. And before Maria even got a chance to really enjoy the experience, there was a sudden onslaught of images rushing through her brain with pounding speed.

A little boy standing alone in the desert, a little boy standing in the shadows all alone while other kids played, the same kid bent together in a curled up position to avoid some beating from a sweaty older guy with a beer in his hand, the boy, older now blasting rocks in the desert with Tess Harding by her side, Michael holding a smaller woman in his arms, who was bleeding, and gasping for air and…

The visions abruptly stopped when Maria felt Michael stiffen and she no longer saw anything. The kiss continued on for a few seconds more, before Michael slowly edged away from her. When Maria opened her eyes again, she was panting and trying to get all the flashes straight in her mind.

"What was that?" she said and licked her lips; a big part of her didn't really give a damn about those images, she just wanted to launch right back into the kiss that had literally rocked a part of her world.

"I wasn't expecting that," Michael replied with an echo of his usual smirk in place. His eyes lingered on her lips and Maria had the distinct feeling that he too wasn't entirely against kissing her again.

"Yeah, me neither," Maria murmured and ran a hand through her short hair. She walked over to one of the desks and sat down heavily. "Those things that ran through my mind…is that gonna happen every time? And also, that kid was you and that older version of you is that the future? Because, you looked a lot older than you do now and-"

"Maria, calm down," Michael was back to normal. At least that is one piece of good news, Maria inwardly thought, but she couldn't enjoy her success to the fullest, too focused on whatever it was that had taken place during that really, really intense kiss.

"Liz told me what happened between all of you the other night, but she didn't mention anything about this! And I'm starting to freak out, Michael, because I think that that bleeding woman in your arms that looked like she was really hurt was me! And I don't enjoy being injured, you know! Oh, where are my drops? Did I forget to bring them today? That's so typical of me."

A warm hand in front of her mouth finally brought an end to Maria's growing rambling and she blinked. Michael smiled and crouched down in front of her with a lot more grace than she'd thought he possessed.

"First things first; that wasn't the future, Maria. It was just a fear of mine; something I'll work really hard to never see happen. Don't worry. And the kid was me and I'm sorry in advance for whatever you saw, because I know my childhood doesn't exactly resemble anything remotely fluffy. It won't happen again, I promise. I just didn't expect it to happen, but now that I do, I'll make sure you won't see anything truly bad. I'm sorry."

Why do I have the feeling that he's not telling me everything? Maria thought, taking deep breaths to get some of her tranquility back. I know he's lying or at least not telling me the whole story. Should I demand answers? No, what if I'm making a big problem out of nothing? Remember, Maria told herself, you once promised him that you'd listen and not demand to know all his secrets, so stop acting like the drama queen everyone always says that you are and just take deep breaths.

"'M 'in 'ow," Maria managed to get through her lips and Michael immediately removed his hand with a raised brow in question. Obviously, he hadn't quite understood her. "I'm fine now," Maria repeated with as much dignity she could muster up.

"Good," Michael replied, getting to his feet. "So am I by the way. You're welcome to hold me anytime you wish, you know and not just when I'm acting like a raging bull."

Maria couldn't quite keep a chuckle from escaping her and she nodded with a big smile. "Well, now that you're okay again, let's get going to our next class. I think we're a bit late already. And the others must be worried sick about you too."

"No," Michael smirked and took her hand in his with such ease, as though he'd done it for years and didn't give a crap about who saw them, "it's a Czechoslovakian thing, but trust me; they already know I'm back to my old self so there's nothing to worry about."

"Okay, is it a trick you could like teach me and Liz in the near future, because," Maria grinned and made it obvious that she was teasing, "it'll be a nifty trick once we have finals. Liz is way smart and as her best friend I bet I can persuade her to give me a few answers."

Michael laughed loudly at that and the kids around them that weren't too busy staring in wonder at the image of them walking casually down the hall hand in hand were looking on in amazement, pretty sure that they'd just heard Michael Guerin laugh for the first time ever.

"Oh yeah, knowing Liz, I'm pretty sure she'd just give you the wrong answers and then lecture you on the importance of following the rules."

Maria smiled, a bit baffled on the inside. How does he know Liz that well? I'm not sure I've ever seen them exchange a word in all the time we've known each other.

Too tired to really care, Maria put the issue out of her mind and simply enjoyed the fact that she'd just had the most intense kiss of her young life and, odd mental images aside, it had been pretty awesome.

Tess' POV

Sometime later, the same day.

It was dark outside and there weren't any people on the street, but Tess still glanced around cautiously to make sure, before she knocked on the door in front of her. She hoped that she wasn't gonna have to come face to face with his father; the man was the sheriff after all and although Nasedo's teachings had proven to be a bit biased, the one about avoiding the law had stuck with her.

Fortunately, it was Kyle that opened the door as she'd hoped. He just stood there in silence as she looked at him closely. It's already begun, she thought, noticing the dark shadows under his eyes and the look he was sending her. It wasn't the fearful one that she'd been afraid of, it was something else entirely that she couldn't quite name at that time. She only knew that it touched something within her and that she wanted to make everything normal again. Make things easy and uncomplicated again.

Finally, when the silence had turned uncomfortable, Kyle spoke, "Evening Tess. What are you doing here at this time a night?"

Tess swallowed; she was battling her instincts internally. She had the strangest desire to just go into the human boy's arms and let him hold her tight, and then she could pretend to forget all about aliens, destinies and all that. On the other hand, Tess knew that leaving yet another human with the knowledge of their existence was extremely dangerous and that only her specific power could make it all okay again.

I have to do this. Tess told herself and straightened up a bit, more determined than ever. "I wanted to apologize properly," she explained and stepped closer.

Kyle frowned, but to her secret joy, he didn't move back as she drew closer. Standing on her toes, Tess kissed Kyle's lips briefly and then she placed her fingers on his temples with a whispered, "I'm so sorry."

A minute later, Tess stood by the window to the Valenti's living room and listened in. Kyle came into the room with a relaxed look on his face. His dad looked up at him, ignoring the game briefly and Tess heard him ask who'd knocked on the door.

Tess didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she heard Kyle's reply. "It was just some tourist asking for directions. I'm off to bed."

It's for the best; Tess told herself when she started walking back to the home she was sharing with Nasedo. This way Kyle won't have this huge secret trust upon him and I get to keep the friend I was getting. I'm sure the others will see reason when they realize just how much more calm he is tomorrow at school…

Despite her inwardly pep talk, Tess couldn't quite keep the anxiety at bay. She had a feeling that no matter how many reasons she'd give come morning, none of the other hybrids were going to be very happy with her.

TBC…


	15. Liz, Kyle, Isabel and Max

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plot twists ahoy as always

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Liz's POV

Although Liz had had a fitful night plagued with oddly familiar dreams, it was the alarm clock that brought her back to reality Monday morning. She opened her eyes wide the second the piercing sound of the alarm started beeping through her room and couldn't quite withhold a small groan of exhaustion.

Ever since the night in the desert where she'd reopened her connection to Max, Liz had been unable to escape some really peculiar dreams. Yawning, Liz finally threw aside her blankets and walked out to her bathroom to get ready for a new day at school.

She was in the middle of her shower, when she felt a sudden jolt inside her, making her aware of the fact that Max was now awake as well. Liz bit her lip when she felt him push cautious warmth through the bond to greet her a good morning and hated herself for her own weird, tumult emotions when she felt him almost sigh through their connection and gently mute the bond to respect her privacy.

Despite the violence that had led up to the reopening of her bond with Max, Liz didn't really regret it. She'd felt surprisingly safe in his arms as they'd stood together witnessing Isabel do her best to calm down a frantic Topolsky. It was only after Max had dropped her off at home later that night and Liz had gone to sleep that things had become even odder.

Dreams and flashes that she'd glimpsed through her kiss with Max kept interfering with her normal sleep cycle and she had a vague notion that the key to understanding her out of this world friends was hidden somewhere in those images.

I need to figure out what to do, Liz thought as she applied some makeup on the bags under her eyes, attempting to look at least a little human before going to school. There's no denying that there's a part of me that wants nothing more than to stay by Max's side all the time, but despite having had a crush on him ever since grade school, I barely know him.

Liz ignored the voice inside her that sounded surprisingly like her grandmother that firmly told her that one didn't need to know every little bit about someone to love them. Liz bit her lip as she exited her room and started making her way downstairs so she could walk to school. She knew there was no reason in hiding it from herself anymore; she was in love with Max; a boy that she had formed some sort of alien bond with and although it scared her scientist mind, she couldn't escape the fact that her heart fluttered and her breath hitched every time she thought about Max for too long.

But there are so many things that I can't explain, Liz thought a bit morosely, exiting the Parker apartment and walking towards the school, distractedly waving to some of the people that were on their way to work and that she'd known all her life. Ever since that darned kiss, Liz fought back a blush, because internally she knew that the kiss had been anything but a nuisance, I've just known things about him that I shouldn't possibly be able to know. I know that he loves strawberries with Tabasco sauce; I know that he's extremely ticklish behind his knees and I know that he's never let me leave our bed unsatisfied, which is preposterous because we've never shared a bed in the first place!

"Liz!"

Liz jumped out of her mind, fanning her warm cheeks in an attempt to hide her now beet red face. She glanced around and spotted Alex on his bike as he weaved by his dad's car on his way over to her.

"Alex," Mr. Whitman scolded with a small smile and a headshake from inside the vehicle, "watch where you're going; I don't want you to have a traffic accident because you were too busy to look at your surroundings."

Traffic accident. Nightfall. Alex. Big van. Max's defeated empty eyes. Grief growing inside her so rapidly that she could practically feel the nausea building by the second.

"Err, Liz," once again, Alex's voice brought the confused Liz back to the present. "You look a little green. Want my water?" he rummaged through his backpack and withdrew a bottle of water and handed it to her with a smile.

Liz closed her eyes and took a big gulp of water, trying her hardest to calm down. She didn't understand what was happening to her. Had the flash been some sort of premonition warning her of the future? No, Liz's pragmatic mind just didn't want to accept that, so she shook the theory away and slowly she started making a new plan to figure things out. If I'm ever going to find out if these dreams and mental flashes that I get are real, I'll have to do some field work first…

Having almost emptied the bottled water during her quick thought process, Liz took a deep breath and handed the mostly empty bottle to her frowning friend. "Thanks Alex, I needed that. I'm not feeling so good right now; actually, I think I'm gonna head home and see if I can sleep it away. I haven't been sleeping so well lately and…" Liz hesitated, but then used the one thing she knew Alex couldn't bear to talk about, "…and it's that special time of the month for me so-"

"Argh," Alex held up his hand, looking exceptionally eager for her to stop talking all of the sudden, "say no more. Please say no more. I'll tell Maria. Go home and we'll talk later or if nothing else, I'll see you tomorrow. I mean, "Alex smiled sheepishly, "if you are uhm, you know, feeling better and stuff. See you later."

Liz swallowed a fond smile as she watched Alex drive off like he had the devil on his heels. It's nice to see that that hasn't changed at least. He's still such a boy. Liz sighed and turned around to go back home. She knew that her mother would've already left for work and that she could pretty much use the same excuse that she'd fed Alex when she talked to her father. That guaranteed her most of the day alone since her dad would be too freaked out to hound her too much.

Little over an hour later, Jeff Parker had placed a big plate of waffles and some hot cocoa on Liz's nightstand before fleeing in much the same manner as Alex had downstairs to the diner to work. Liz gathered the materials she knew she'd need on her self-appointed quest for answers and slipped out of her room unnoticed. Five minutes after that, she was digging out her own, very rarely used, bike from the storage shed in the alley behind the Crashdown and went on her way, trying to ignore the guilt over her lies to her father and Alex.

I really hope I don't find what I think I'm going to find, Liz thought to herself as she got on the bike and rode out of the town. When she was halfway to her destination, Liz almost fell off her bike when there was a sudden spike of emotions ramming into her from Max's end. Closing her eyes, Liz sent back a wave of tranquility and affection, hoping to calm him down from whatever it was that had sent him over the edge of reason. She debated whether or not to return home, but she knew that she needed answers and this way was the only way for her to get them without being influenced by Max or the others. I just hope there's not going to be a lot of drama; Liz prayed and went on her way full of renewed determination.

Kyle's POV

Pain was piercing through every part of his body, he could feel warm blood dripping down his torso from the gaping wound in his chest and all he could do was scream out his agony and sorrow. He wasn't really all that clear on what had happened. He tried to remember, ignoring the part of him that was screaming himself hoarse.

They'd been surrounded and Isabel and Max had been standing with their backs to his and that's why he'd seen Khivar first; He'd seen Khivar's dark eyes light up with vindictive glee at the sight of the hated royal Antarians and then raise his hand. Kyle had roughly pushed his close friends out of the line of fire before he'd even made a conscious decision to do so.

Through his agonized roaring, Kyle heard Isabel scream his name with despair. He turned his head, hoping against hope that she would stop his pain, and saw her battling five soldiers, trying her damndest to get to him. Max was right behind her, struggling with Khivar and his lieutenants all by himself; Max's eyes caught his briefly and Kyle halted his screaming abruptly.

It was no use, Kyle realized in that moment. He was going to die; the darkness was already growing around him, the pain disappearing bit by bit thankfully. He coughed up some blood that trailed down his chin and landed on the ground to mix in with the blood still pouring from his chest. An image of all of his already deceased loved ones came to him and Kyle's eyes started to burn with unshed tears.

"Tell my dad I love him," Kyle whispered hoarsely, praying with all his might that they'd hear his request. Isabel grabbed one of her opponent's head and twisted it ruthlessly and was almost by his side when someone tripped her and dragged her away from him. Her nails broke as she tried to claw her way to him without luck.

"You need to win," Kyle continued, his last ounce of strength going to the battling Max standing almost close enough to touch, "leave so you can survive…"

"Kyle, no!" Max's voice was filled with more emotion than Kyle had heard in months and he smirked a bit internally. Who knew Max Evans would turn out to be my best friend in the end?

"We're surrounded! You have to leave me here…" Kyle's voice was almost nonexistent after all his pained screaming, but clearly audible to his two remaining friends that were still fighting tooth and nail to get to him before it was too late.

Isabel was lying trembling on the floor next to his bleeding body, her eyes filled with tears that hadn't been shed in a long time. She was being beaten ferociously by her last remaining opponent. "Please," she practically whimpered, kicking the male weakly in the groin before turning to Kyle again, "not you too. Kyle, please hang on for me."

Kyle's lip twisted in dark humor even as the darkness around him grew more and more, making it almost impossible for him to see anything but Isabel's beautiful eyes, "I just died for you Woman, what else can I do?"

"Max will -" Isabel began, but Kyle mercilessly interrupted her before she could promise her brother's assistance.

"Take ham and flee while you have the chance," Kyle muttered drowsily, ignoring both of his friends cries, while he used the remainder of his power to grab the last of those grenades that Serena and Michael had invented together. "I-n-never…" Kyle struggled getting the words out, "…regretted…a-anyt-thi-ng…I-I'm-"

Kyle pressed the button on the grenade just as everything turned black. In the distance, he heard Max dragging a now sobbing Isabel away, muttering repeatedly, "It's too late now. He's gone." The beeping grew louder and Kyle kindda liked how quickly everyone around him suddenly moved in an attempt to avoid dying alongside him. I just hope I take Khivar with me, was the last thing Kyle thought as a huge blast suddenly erupted around him and ending everything.

"Kyle!"

Kyle's eyes snapped open and he struggled the best he knew, trying hard to escape the hands on his shoulders that were holding him down. He was gasping for air and the horrific nightmare he'd just had was still blaringly clear to him.

"Kyle, Son! Relax; it's just me, Boy." Finally, Kyle recognized his father's voice and he stopped fighting his hold and relaxed back in to the bed.

He could feel sweat pouring down his naked torso and the feeling was eerily reminiscent to the dream where it had been blood instead of salted water that trailed down his body. What the hell was that all about? Kyle thought and did his best to calm down.

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and locked gazed with the concerned ones of his father. "I'm fine now, Dad," Kyle stated and sat up when Jim almost reluctantly removed his hands from him. "It was just a bad dream, that's all."

"Son," Jim said, rubbing a hand over his brow with a sigh, "that was more than just a dream. I could hear you screaming all the way from the front yard. I almost had a heart attack coming in here, seeing you flaying about like that. You looked scared to death." Jim tried to smile, "anything you wanna talk to me about, Kyle?"

Kyle shrugged, eager to put the whole mess behind him, now that he was awake and could see the morning sunlight shining into his room, illumination everything and chasing away the fear from his nightmare. "I'm good. I'm gonna go take a shower and then I'll better get to school. I promised Johnny I wouldn't be late today. See ya tonight, okay?"

Not giving his father a chance to reply or disagree, Kyle practically jumped out of his bed and made his way to the bathroom. If he trembled a bit as the warm water cascaded down on his body, it was just because he was a bit shocked over his rude awakening. At least, that's what the teenager told himself repeatedly after almost dropping his shampoo bottle twice.

0o0o0

A little while later Kyle pulled up to the curve where Johnny was waiting with a sour expression on his face. Kyle rolled his eyes as his teammate jumped into the car, muttering his usual complaints about missing his own vehicle.

The moment he finished rolling his eyes, Kyle wished he hadn't done it in the first place. His eye pounded and he sighed, gingerly touching the bruised eye that he had no memory of getting in the first place.

"What happened to you, Man?" Johnny asked, finally noticing that Kyle wasn't paying the least bit attention to him. "You look like you've walked into a door or something."

"Yeah, I actually don't remember," Kyle confessed with a rueful smile as he pulled into the school's parking lot. "I woke up and when I looked in the bathroom mirror it was there. I think I must have, I don't know, whacked myself or something. I had this weird dream."

"Yeah, I know all about weird dreams," Johnny immediately launched into a detailed description of his own dream, something about green, shimmering walls and flailing window blinds. Kyle quickly lost interest in Johnny's tale; in fact, it was like he had to restrain himself from pushing the other jock out of his car in anger.

Why am I so angry? Why does every little thing that Johnny says annoy me today? Kyle wondered mutely, and exited his car without waiting for his supposedly best friend. He walked so fast that he'd left Johnny in the dust within seconds and despite his small speck of guilt, Kyle didn't really regret ditching the other guy.

Instead of going back and waiting for Johnny, Kyle walked over to his locker and grabbed the books he knew he'd need for his first class. He ran into the new girl, Tess just as he closed the locker with a bang.

The small blond looked up at him with such a beaming smile, that Kyle couldn't help but return it. "Hi," he greeted her warmly. He was a bit confused over the girl's happiness, after all, she'd spent a long time avoiding him whenever she could, but somehow he was feeling better just being around her.

Although, Kyle straightened up suddenly, nearly dropping his book, there's this part of me that's angry with her too. What is going on? Am I PMS'ing today or what?

"Are you okay?" Tess asked, suddenly looking a lot more concerned than the sheriff's son had ever seen her. "You look a bit…constipated."

"Gee thanks," Kyle smiled thinly, his earlier warmth slowly ebbing out of him, leaving him irritated at the blond newcomer for some reason. "Look, I'd better go; I promised a friend that I'd meet him, so….err." He trailed off, knowing it was a flimsy excuse at best, but Tess seemed to buy it, because she nodded and quickly walked in the other direction.

Kyle sighed and turned to walk to his classroom, I might as well be a bit early today. Kyle was almost at his destination, when Isabel came walking towards him with Max right beside her. Inexplicably, Kyle's heart rate doubled at the sight of the Evans' siblings, the memory of his horrible dream exploding inside of him harshly and he quickly dove into the boys' restroom to try and get himself together again. He walked over to the sinks and splashed some cold water on his face with a small groan. "What the hell is wrong with me today?" Kyle muttered, looking at his reflection tiredly.

It was like something was missing inside of him and he didn't know how to get it back. You can do this, Kyle told himself, trying to relax his face enough to look at least passable for normal, You're Kyle frigging Valenti and you're not scared of some bad dream. Because, Kyle glared at himself in the mirror, as if daring his reflection to argue, that's all it was; a stupid dream! Now go out there and show everyone that you're Valenti the popular jock and not some scared little girl!

Feeling a little bit better about himself after his little pep talk, Kyle took a deep breath and exited the restroom. Only to run right into Max and Isabel, who had clearly been waiting for him to come out.

"Whoa…err, mornin'," Kyle blurted out, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the matching set of intense look the siblings were giving him.

"Hi Kyle," Isabel smiled at him with a friendly look in her eyes, "We wanted to see how you were doing. I mean, we didn't hear from you this weekend, so I hope you're not freaking out about everything."

"But," Max added, and to Kyle's immense surprise, the Evans boy looked almost teasing; it was something that Kyle had never seen on the other guy's face to be honest, "if you're freaking out, we can handle it. You can't be worse than Maria when she found out."

Kyle raised a questioning brow and asked a bit roughly, "Found out what?"

Isabel and Max traded a quick glance before turning their full attention back on him. Kyle had to restrain himself from stepping right back into the restroom behind him. There was just something so…primal about them that he wanted to escape. "You know," Isabel eventually replied, looking around to see if there was anyone listening in on their conversation, "about everything I told you."

"Look," Kyle's patience snapped, obviously his earlier pep talk hadn't exactly helped him get over his funny mood, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, Evans. I'm tired, my brain feels like it's trying to pound its way through my skull and I'm just not in the mood to try and decipher any of your weird coded messages. Go hang out with Guerin, maybe he'll understand what you're getting at."

Having said his piece, and not feeling any guilt what so ever, because he wasn't, Kyle firmly told his conscience when it acted up a bit, he grabbed his backpack and quickly walked away from the two siblings. He was trying to ignore the way the crestfallen look in their eyes reminded him eerily of his nightmare where they'd both screamed his name with such desperate grief etched in their voices.

Kyle forced himself not to look back when he heard a bang behind him, and he had to restrain himself even more from breaking into a run when he could feel a flare of choking heat behind him, and he tried to ignore the way Isabel's curse rang in his ears. "I'm gonna kill Tess!"

When he entered the classroom he needed, Kyle sat down and placed his now pounding head in his arms and tried not to think about what the hell Tess had to do with anything, and why he felt a brief flicker of anger towards her. It's probably nothing; he told himself and tried to focus on what his just arrived teacher said.

Isabel's POV

After loudly having proclaimed her intentions towards Tess, Max sent Isabel a scathing glare to get her to be quiet. "Not here," he stated, looking pretty angry himself in Isabel's opinion.

"But she-" Isabel started, pointing at the retreating Kyle in the distance, but was interrupted promptly by Max, who was looking at their surroundings, making sure they weren't drawing attention to themselves.

"If you seek her out now, you'll use your powers and blow everything we've worked so hard for to pieces. We've put too much into this whole ordeal for you to ruin it in a temper."

"In a temper?" Isabel repeated, indignation pouring out of her every pore, "I can't believe you're not more upset, Max. She mindwarped him even after we specifically told her not to. This is just another proof of her evil soul. She'll do whatever she wants and end up getting us all killed in the end!"

Max sent Isabel such a cold look, that she found herself instinctively looking down in submission. "You think I'm not upset? Iz, if I see her within the next few minutes, I'm in danger of blowing our cover myself. I need you to stay focused, so I can stay focused. We'll deal with her after class. Now, I'm gonna go find Michael and warn him about this and then we'll have had a few hours to calm down a bit before talking with Tess."

Isabel watched her brother disappear silently for a few minutes and then she took a big breath and exhaled.

I'm not going to kill Tess, she kept thinking on repeat inwardly. A part of her realized that she probably didn't look all that normal in that moment, standing iron straight with closed eyes in the middle of the hallway, muttering soundlessly into thin air, but she was too angry to really care about what her fellow students thought about her.

Despite her internal dialogue, Isabel could still feel her anger bubbling in her belly, spraying cold drops of ice cold rage out in her every limb and as she made her way to her first class of the day, she could feel Alex's confusion and concern grow through their connection. It took a lot of effort, but eventually Isabel managed to mute her emotions a bit and send what she hoped was reassurance back to him. There was no way she wanted him involved in anything regarding Tess, so Isabel knew she had to make sure that Alex's good heart wouldn't make him interfere when he felt her anger and fear. Although he didn't know all about them yet, Isabel knew he was intelligent enough to figure out that she had something to do with his feelings.

After all, Isabel mused, reaching the door to her class, we're talking about the kid that hacked into Topolsky's computer, and who was the one to translate our book…He's far from stupid.

A moment later, Isabel had walked into the half full classroom and found herself locking eyes with Alex in person and she broke out into a big smile instinctively. He quickly lost the frown on his face and returned the grin eagerly.

Isabel flipped her long hair over her shoulder and practically sauntered over to the empty seat next to him. All her anger towards Tess was temporarily put on hold, she was too happy to be near Alex. "Is this seat taken?" she asked sweetly and swallowed a smile at the dazed look he sent her.

"Alex?" Isabel leaned forward a bit and placed her hand on his forehead teasingly, "are you sick? You look a bit flushed all of the sudden."

"Wha-I'm-you know-sure-no, I'm fine," Alex blurted out incoherently and gestured violently to the empty seat, indicating that he really, really wanted her to claim said seat.

Isabel smiled and gracefully folded her long limbs into the chair, completely ignoring the raised eyebrows she could see from her former friends out of the corner of her eyes. Isabel was too mature and way too wise to follow any high school etiquette regarding popular kids and geeks. She just wanted to spend all her time with the boy she loved and save him from dying too soon this time around.

Isabel shared two classes with Alex, so it was a few hours before she was free to go seek out Michael and see how he'd taken Max's news about Tess and Kyle. She found him standing next to Maria, who was looking up at his solemn face with narrowed eyes.

As Isabel drew nearer, she heard Maria whisper intently, "I can feel that there's something wrong, Michael. Cut the act and tell me what's going on." Maria scanned her surroundings and met Isabel's gaze briefly before looking back up at Michael. "If it's something that's potentially dangerous for us non Czechoslovakians, you'd tell me, right?"

Michael's entire body tensed and Isabel decided to interrupt, before he blurted out everything about the time travel and what kind of person Tess had been in that other timeline. "Hey, Maria. Can I borrow Michael for a minute?"

Normally, Isabel hated the look of fear that always flew through Maria's eyes whenever Isabel was around, but for once she used it to her favor, knowing full well that the blond wouldn't dare disagree with her. We haven't had our little bonding trip yet, but I'm gonna make sure it happens somehow once we've dealt with Tess, Isabel promised Maria mutely as she all but dragged Michael with her.

A few minutes later, Isabel released her once upon another lifetime husband and turned him around so she could look him dead in the eye. "Don't," Michael objected before she even got a word in. "I'm not gonna go after her until Max has made sure that no one will see. He said something about getting Nasedo to make her stay home after school. Then we'll all deal with her at their place."

Isabel didn't know whether to approve of the plan and Max's foresight or hate the fact that the once rash Michael couldn't be swayed into bullying Tess, not even a little bit. "Fine," she eventually huffed out, knowing that her fellow hybrids had the right idea.

After all, if even the densest human got any suspicious ideas about them, everything could go to hell and even Isabel's angry side wanted nothing to do with a repeat of history. But I'm gonna make her regret ever laying her slimy paws on Kyle, so help me God.

Apparently, Isabel's inner lust for vengeance was shining through her, so Michael didn't stray from her side once for the rest of the school day. He even grabbed her wrist tightly to keep her seated once in the cafeteria when Tess had walked in behind some laughing jocks to get her own lunch.

When the day finally ended and the last bell rang, Isabel shot out of her stool so fast that Michael had barely reached down for his backpack. Isabel didn't really care, too consumed with getting her hands on Tess. She was so occupied that not even Alex's presence could calm her; she actually bumped into him on the way out of the school, mumbling a quick, distracted apology, before she was down the steps and on her way to the parking lot where she had spotted Max standing next to the jeep, waiting for her. She heard Michael repeat her apology when he too ran smack into the now thoroughly confused Alex.

Michael finally caught up to Isabel, yelling as he jumped unceremoniously into the Jeep just as Max's started it, "Damn it girl; don't forget to breathe, Tess is still at her house, I checked with Nasedo, so chill!"

Isabel rolled her eyes, but didn't respond, because she knew her friend was right and she was acting nothing like the icy and levelheaded female that she'd been for years. Max didn't say anything; he was too busy weaving in and out of traffic to scold her, something which was always a good thing in Isabel's eyes.

Ten minutes later, the trio of time traveling hybrids arrived at Tess and Nasedo's house. Tires squealing as the Jeep came to an abrupt halt at the curve in front of the other two aliens' house. Isabel was the first one out of the vehicle, closely followed by a silent Max and a more or less snarling Michael; it would seem that his anger had returned tenfold now that he no longer had to watch out for Isabel's wrath.

The door opened before Isabel could bang it open to reveal Nasedo, looking as emotionless as ever. His eyes scanned them all quickly; lingering a bit on Isabel's flushed face and clenched fists with a raised brow. He looked over at Max and finally spoke, "She's in the living room; as ordered I didn't warn her about your arrival."

Isabel could see the small hint of resentment that the older alien had for that order and had she been in a better frame of mind, she might even had understood how hard it would be for him to basically betray the closest thing he had to a family, but she didn't care. And this way, Isabel thought vindictively, mentally rubbing her hands together with delight, she'll know what it feels like to be betrayed by someone she trusts.

Max was the first to push past Nasedo and enter the living room. Isabel could see that his back was tensed and by the way he was holding himself straight, it was easy to see that he too was pretty close to losing his control and Isabel spared a brief prayer, praying that he above all else didn't lose it. Last time he did that, Isabel remembered with a faint shudder, he almost killed Michael and the rest of us without even touching us.

The next moment put an end to Isabel's quick, nausea inducing trip down memory lane, because she'd stepped up next to Max and was now able to see Tess herself.

The small blond hybrid was sitting frozen on the couch facing towards them; her face showed her every emotion. Especially the blunt horror at witnessing an angry Max and Isabel vaguely recalled how Tess' views on Max had changed since seeing him all but kill her guardian mercilessly.

Well, it's not him she needs to worry about, Isabel thought and roughly pushed Max to the side and catapulted over to the still seating Tess, slamming her fist into her face and relishing in the snapping sound that told everyone that Tess' nose had been broken.

"I told you," Isabel began, following the now fleeing Tess, "that I would kill you if you laid a hand on Kyle and what do you do?"

Tess tried to stop her nose from bleeding unsuccessfully as she scrambled away from Isabel; only to whine in fright when she realized that she was now within arm's reach of both Max and Michael. "You don't understand," she tried to explain, finally finding some semblance of cover behind the TV, "He's only human, he can't possibly handle everything; I didn't want your gullibility to come back and bite us all in the ass!"

Isabel saw Max raise his hand to undoubtedly use some of his more inventive methods of inflicting pain, but she held up a hand of her own. "Don't Max, I got this."

To Isabel's relief, she noted that her brother was actually letting her have her way while he stood by and watched. Even Michael didn't verbally object to her statement, he just walked over to Nasedo and leaned up against the wall casually.

Tess seemed to grow back into her spirit when she too realized that she wasn't about to engage in a three against one combat. She stood up and hissed angrily, "I'm not just a little normal girl, Isabel. I've been brought up by a soldier, who's trained me intensively all my life, so stand down and accept that I'm going to take back my mindwarp on Kyle. And," Tess added, smirking, now full of confidence, "I'm not going to heel to you when it comes to my powers. If I think someone needs to forget something to protect our common secret, I'll use my abilities and I don't care what the hell you think about it. Because I'm not soft and weak like you seem to be."

"Tess," Nasedo tried to intervene, obviously a bit more knowledgeable when it came to judging ones opponent. "Be careful what you say-"

"No," Tess interrupted, spitting out some blood that had seeped into her mouth, "I'm not gonna follow your orders anymore. I'm the queen, remember? I might not have a king by my side in this life, but I'm still your ruler."

"Oh that's where you're wrong," Isabel pointed out through gritted teeth, her whole body shaking with repressed need to hurt the curly haired female in front of her, "forget the fact that you actually think he's gonna listen to you when Max and I are the only true blooded royalty in this room and let's go back to the point where you called us weaklings. I've got half a mind to show you just how not weak I am."

Tess' eyes narrowed and her upper lip curled in contempt and anger, "I'm waiting with baited breath!"

She barely got the last word out before Isabel had slung an energy ball at her, forcing her to leap backwards and to the side. The sphere still grazed her arm though and Tess' scream of pain was pure gold to Isabel. She saw Max and Michael jump in front of Nasedo, muttering what was no doubt an order to stay out of the fight entirely and she smirked much like Tess had done moments before.

The next few minutes went by in a colorful blur; the two hybrids fought viciously and there was no denying that the longer the fight went on, the more deadly it became. Isabel had to force back some of her old tricks, knowing that even Max couldn't heal Tess if she used some of the techniques she'd perfected during the war with Khivar.

"I can't believe you're so upset about this," Tess panted, narrowly dodging Isabel's power infused circle kick, punching Isabel hard in the stomach, "you barely know him; he's just a kid in your school. It's not like I did anything to those humans you stupidly told the truth."

"And you never will," Isabel swore, sending off a small fireball, "I'll kill you before you even get the chance!"

"They'll never fully trust you! They're not from your world; we're not supposed to care about humans!" Tess screamed, slamming her foot down and causing the floor to shake, making Isabel unsteady on her feet.

"You don't know anything, if you didn't care about Kyle's feelings then why did you mindwarp him in the first place?" Isabel asked, now panting a little herself. I definitely need to work out more; I'm way more out of shape than I thought I was if I can't even keep up with Tess.

Tess raised her hands and sent off an invisible energy ball, much like the one Nasedo had used on Max during their fight, although a lot weaker. "Shut up! I don't care about him or any humans for that matter. If you don't believe me, just wait until I get my hands on that tall, gangly one that you always follow around!"

Although Tess clearly was just spewing out idle threats to get to Isabel, Isabel lost any and all control over herself the second Tess began threatening Alex; her vision zeroed in on the rapidly paling blond with an intensity that she'd seldom experienced and Isabel knew only one thing in that moment, which was that she was going to end that miserable being's life once and for all for even thinking about hurting the one human she loved above all others.

Isabel clenched her teeth, almost growling like an animal in her fury and used one of her old moves that would put some deep gashes through Tess' small body and cause her to die in agony in (sadly) only a few minutes time.

Just as she'd released the powerful attack from her hands, Isabel watched as in slow motion as the most horrifying thing happened. She had missed Tess completely because out of nowhere, Alex suddenly appeared next to Tess and jumped in front of her, taking the barely visible blow himself.

Isabel stood frozen with her hands still lifted, watching numbly as her attack rammed into the young man that she hoped to one day spend her life with, pushing him harshly into the wall while several deep wounds sprouted from his body as he screamed in pain, piercing her heart ruthlessly.

Tess was the first one by his side, holding her hands over one of his deepest wounds, applying pressure to help staunch the blood flow. For all her earlier words about not caring about humans, the former queen looked pretty damn concerned for the still screaming one in front of her and all of Isabel's hate for Tess seemed to ooze out of her slowly, like an infected wound being cleansed. If her quick actions helped save Alex, Isabel would never utter another word against her, mindwarping be damned.

Isabel felt Michael grabbing her waist and pulling her up. When did I fall to the floor? She wondered as though in a daze. He supported her weight without a sound and helped her forward so she could watch everything barely breathing as the guilt and shame and sorrow washed over her in tidal waves.

Then Max seemed to finally have come out of his own moment of shock; it probably hadn't lasted more than a few seconds, but it seemed like it had been forever since Isabel had watched her own attack pierce through Alex's body like a knife through bread.

Please save him, Max, Isabel thought frantically, completely unaware of the fact that she was now sitting next to a blood covered Tess and was gently being held by her, while muttering over and over again, "Please save him Max, please, I'm sorry, please save him."

Max's POV

The warm blood was pouring out of Alex's tall body with a speed that would've proved fatal to the human if Max hadn't been the one holding his hands over his wounds.

Max didn't even hesitate when he leaned forward; releasing Alex's gaping cuts and gripping his face firmly with his bloody hands leaving frightening prints on the human's pale face.

"Alex," Max's voice was almost inaudible in the middle of Isabel's broken whispers and pleas and Alex's now gurgling moans of pain. "You have to look at me. Come on, Whitman."

Holding his breath, hoping that his one second of hesitation and shock hadn't caused him to be too late to save his sister's loved one for the second time, Max twisted Alex's head so he could lock eyes with him and begin the healing.

In the background Max heard Nasedo's mildly spoken objection to the healing; that it was an irresponsible idea to risk heal another human; that it would be safer to let him die. Surprisingly, it was Tess' voice that told the older alien to shut up and Max filed that away to ponder on later.

Prying Alex's eyes open as quickly, but gently as possible, Max finally got the window he'd been hoping for and he threw everything into the healing that he could spare. The explosion of images from Alex's life told Max that he'd succeeded even as he felt his powers trickle through Alex's body and putting it back together in a painstakingly slow manner. Images of the first time Alex had seen Isabel went through Max's mind, memories of joyous days and evenings spent with Liz and Maria flew through him as well, the barely processed memory of hearing Michael proclaim that they were going to Tess' house and seeing Isabel so furious, and then when the barrage of images slowed after what seemed like an eternity, Max broke the connection with a loud gasp.

He'd never had to work so hard to heal anyone; not even the children in Phoenix. A scientific and rational part of Max had a theory that it was because he was working against his sister's powers, trying to undo something she'd done.

Max blinked out of his head and realized that he was still engaged in a staring contest with Alex, who was looking at him with a mixture of confusion, relief and fear. "It's okay now," Max murmured, letting go of Alex's face and straightening up a bit, "You're okay now…"

Black spots danced in front of Max's face and he shook his head, watching how Michael and Nasedo frowned at him when they noticed. Tess and Isabel were too preoccupied with Alex to see anything other than him.

"-used too much," Nasedo's voice sounded lower than usual and drawn out like he was dragging the words out. Michael nodded in slow-motion and Max lost consciousness, the last thing he felt was Liz's concern, and surprisingly something akin to anger.

0o0o0

When Max woke up it was dark outside and the first thing he noticed was that he was filled with anger that wasn't his own and he sighed. Haven't this day been bad enough already? He looked around, noticing that he was lying on the couch in Nasedo's living room. He spotted Isabel sleeping on a mattress on the floor next to a cleaned Alex, who was sleeping soundly as well.

He could hear hissed voices from the hallway and sat up with a sigh. Running a hand through his hair, Max made his way to the arguing people on the other side of the closed door. The closer he got, the more sure he was that Liz had somehow tracked him down. He wasn't really surprised.

Just as he opened the door, he heard Michael say, "Look, you've seen him, he's sleeping and whatever it is you're so obsessed about talking to him about, it'll have to wait until he's awake and alert. Liz, we've had a really long day."

"So have I," Liz countered, crossing her arms over her bulging backpack. "I'm- Max," she noticed him first and immediately stopped talking to Michael. "I need to talk to you."

Max traded a look with an obviously exasperated Michael and a clearly irritated Nasedo, who was standing by the front door, which was still open from when Liz had forced her way in. Evidently the alien didn't quite dare deny his King's chosen mate anything. "It's okay; we'll just go outside for a minute," he said quietly and walked over to the door without waiting for Liz to follow.

"Well, I'm going to bed," Michael announced and Nasedo closed the door after Max and Liz's exit, muttering something about calling Topolsky to make sure she hadn't been left alone too long for her own good.

Once outside, Max took a deep breath, forcing the memory of Alex's injuries out of his mind and ignoring the squeamish part of him that proclaimed that it could still smell the blood in the air. After another cleansing breath, he turned to Liz with a soft smile on his lips, because no matter how many breaths he took, she was the only thing in the universe that could truly bring calm to his soul.

"What's wrong Liz? Why are you feeling so angry all of the sudden?"

Liz's lips thinned momentarily before she opened her backpack and started rummaging around inside of it. "I think you've been too busy today to get a clear handle on my emotions, Max, because I'm not angry. I'm feeling so many things that I can't even begin to describe it. But," she shrugged with her hand still inside the backpack, "that's not really important. Ever since you and I kissed and reopened the bond between us, I've been having weird dreams. Dreams that couldn't possibly be true…or so I thought."

Max's heart almost stopped, dreading what she'd say next. "I need you to be honest with me, Max."

Liz's brown eyes were piercing Max to the bone and he spoke without really noticing it, "Of course Liz…" Then Liz finally took out what it was she'd been searching for in her backpack and this time, Max's heart felt like it'd been laced with led.

In Liz's small dainty hands was a silver, bluish orb that had a clearly non-earthly glow to it. "What is this exactly and why did I know where to find it today without even hesitating? Because I'm pretty damn sure I've never seen this thing before in my life."

TBC…


	16. Max, Liz, Michael, and Kathleen

HAPTER SIXTEEN

Liz's POV

The customers in the Crashdown looked up with puzzled and curious gazes when Liz stormed inside, her usually so pretty features twisted together unattractively as she sneered in silent anger.

The fuming brunette didn't acknowledge the questioning glance her father sent her from behind the counter, no, instead she marched past him and out the backdoor and all but stomped up to her room and slammed the door behind her, practically shaking the building in its very foundations.

Within seconds, she'd grabbed a pillow off her bed and was screaming into it to muffle the sound a bit. When it didn't help her mood at all, Liz threw the fluffy pillow at the wall with all her might, watching it fall down softly without inflicting any damage. It was very unsatisfying. She wanted to push all of her things down from her cluttered desk, see it shatter into a million pieces with a rewarding amount of sound. But the small and always logical filled part of her pointed out that it'd be a brief joy and there were things on her desk that she'd had treasured for years.

Instead, she sat on the bed and glared at the walls surrounding her. She got to sit undisturbed for about two minutes after that, when Maria burst through the door with her eyes widened and her mouth practically agape. To be fair, it was pretty unusual for Liz to be the drama queen in their friendship.

"Okay," Maria began, cautiously sitting down next to the still glaring Liz, "so you basically walked right by me down there and your shift started fifteen minutes ago…Your dad sent me up here, he told me to tell you that he doesn't even care why you've left your room when you're supposedly sick from, and I quote, "female problems," and only wants you downstairs and ready to work as soon as possible. Queen Amidala, or as you like to call her, Isabel hasn't bothered showing up today and Agnes is at her daughter's house this week…Oh, screw it," Maria huffed and grabbed an unresponsive Liz's shoulders, turning her around to face her.

"Mind telling me what the hell happened today? Michael's emotions went all over the place and I could barely sit down before feeling like I had to puke, then you come in looking like you do and Isabel doesn't show up and even though I'm not fond of it, it can't be denied that she's a really good worker. Tell me everything or I swear, I'm gonna do something really horrible that I can't' really come up with right now, but when I do it's gonna be legendary so spill it!"

Liz blinked and could see the growing horror on her best friend's face when her tears welled up and Liz hated that she wasn't stronger. I never cry. I shouldn't be feeling like this just because the boy I love is lying to me…

"Liz, what's wrong?" Maria's tone was now gentle and soft and she took Liz's hands in her own, waiting for some kind of explanation with a little more patience than she'd shown minutes before. "I'm listening,  
Honey."

"It's about Max," Liz explained, half hoping that the warning would make Maria run downstairs and leave her bed, while at the same time, needing her best friend to stay put and be her support.

Once again, Maria proved to Liz just how good a friend she really was, because she mutely nodded and waited for Liz to explain.

"Well," Liz started, "you know I told you about the weird flashes that I got when I reopened the connection between me and Max."

"Yeah, if by reopening, you mean kissed his brains out, go ahead," Maria teased with a small smile, obviously seeking to lift Liz's spirit a bit.

"I've been having dreams ever since. Dreams that shouldn't really matter, except they do because it's like I'm remembering stuff that I've forgotten and this morning I just had enough and wanted to see if what I dreamt was real. I found this metallic orb thing in the desert just where I dreamt it was and…" Liz paused, biting her lip nervously before continuing, "And I sought out Max to confront him about it. He was at Tess' place with Michael of all people."

Maria froze. "What? Michael was at New Girl's house? Why? Did they like, look cozy together? Did she twirl her stupid curls around, making gooey eyes at him? Aaaand, that's not what I should be focusing on right now. Continue."

Liz smiled a bit, the first less than morose expression on her face since Maria arrived. "For the record, she wasn't even there. Anyway, I showed Max the orb thing and he literally went blank. It was weird. I got nothing, it was like there was no bond at all the moment he saw it. And his eyes, Maria; they looked really bad. It was almost like…You know what, I can't explain it properly, so let's just skip it. I tried to get him to open up and tell me what it was and what he wasn't telling me, because let's face it; things have been pretty abnormal lately for all of us. Then…"

Liz looked down at her hands in her lap, unable to continue for a moment, as the memory of Max's emotionless mask entered her mind. She didn't think she'd ever truly get over the fact that she'd been the one to make him look like that, like a living dead.

"Liz?" Maria's voice brought Liz back to the present and she looked up, meeting the concerned gaze of her best friend. "Then what happened?"

"I don't really remember to be honest. I tried to send him some kind of emotion to jumpstart him again. I mean, he looked not only blank, but exhausted too, like he'd been having a rough day. Michael seemed kind of protective of Max before I got him alone, so I think something's happened."

"Yeah, me too," Maria added, looking thoughtful. "Like I said, Isabel isn't here, so that makes all three of the Czechoslovakians unavailable. But that's not important right now, I need to hear the rest of the story whatever it is."

"Okay," Liz took a deep breath, knowing that what she'd done wasn't exactly up to par with the usual mature way she acted. "Somehow I told him that I wanted the truth and that if he cared as much about me as I did him, he shouldn't keep secrets. He didn't respond and I lost my temper. To be completely honest, I think I might have tapped into his unexpressed anger, because I totally blew up when he didn't confess whatever it was and went home and you know the rest. And to top it all off, I think I might be getting a stupid cold…" Liz ended her story with a small pout as she crawled further into the bed, making more room for Maria.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Maria agreed a moment later, and sighed loudly, sitting back against the headboard with a frown marring her face. "It doesn't sound good, Liz. But I do think you have a point about the anger; you losing your cool so often isn't like you and when you do, you're way better at speaking and more mature; I mean, I'm usually the one stomping away and having screaming matches with my pillow."

Liz chuckled tiredly, closing her eyes and leaning her head on Maria's shoulder. "I know."

"So, in an attempt to get my more levelheaded friend back, I'm gonna suggest that you get downstairs and work so your thoughts and suspicions don't turn into something more. Come on, Baby Girl." Maria slapped Liz on the leg gently and stood up.

She's right, Liz realized as she quickly changed her clothes, I'm much more mature than this and I need to talk more with Max, preferably without getting us into another argument. A few hours of work is just what I need to clear my head. I have to make Max trust me with whatever it is he's hiding and I need to figure out a way to apologize for blowing up at him too…

Liz barely managed to button the last button on her uniform before Maria grabbed her wrist and dragged her downstairs, where her dad kept his promise and didn't interrogate her about whatever it was she'd been doing.

Max's POV

"…that's how he was able to heal you," Max heard Isabel explain quietly to Alex as he finally reentered Tess and Nasedo's house.

"Th-That's just…I mean, you're and they? No, I…" Alex's voice was shaky and Max didn't have to look at him to know that he was freaking out. The tall teen's eyes were darting around the room and he jumped a bit when his gaze locked into Max's.

Evidently, on some level he'd felt the connection forming during the healing, and unlike when Max had healed Liz, he wasn't soothed at all.

"Well, it's late and I gotta go home; my parents must be worried sick and…" Alex trailed off and without looking at any of them, especially the frozen Isabel, kneeling in front of him, he left the Harding's house as though he was being threatened on his life.

Max licked his dry lips and looked down at his sister. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he could feel something other than his own sadness and despair over his situation with his once in another life spouse. An almost crushing wave of compassion flew over him as he watched the immobile Isabel silently suffer.

After a few minutes, Max walked over to Isabel and without a word, he just took her in his arms and offered his strength to lean on. 'It's gonna be okay, Iz' he thought out to her and caressed her long hair gently; 'everything is going to be better tomorrow'.

A shadow loomed over them and Max tensed and looked up, ready for anything, only to slightly deflate when he met Michael' stony eyes.

Max didn't get a chance to say anything before Michael, in a completely uncharacteristic move, sat down behind Isabel and embraced her as well, copying Max's silent approach. The contact seemed to be the last straw for Isabel, because she started to shake and her eyes teared up and she let herself cry.

'He's never looked at me like that before', Isabel thought out to them after several minutes of quiet sobbing. 'It was like he was afraid of me and he's never looked at me with fear before, not even in our last life'.

Michael tightened his grip on Isabel and Max heard his response as clearly as had he spoken it out loud. 'It's a lot to take in any day. Cut him some slack, he was almost…you know killed, by the girl he crushes on. We have to remember that he's sixteen, they're all sixteen.'

Max couldn't help but feel that it was a not so subtle hint for him about Liz and he sighed into his sister's soft hair. Suddenly, Isabel chuckled and the sound warmed Max's heart. 'What?' he asked and pulled back to meet her red rimmed eyes with a raised brow.

'I just can't get used to Michael being the most mature one of us right now.' Isabel replied with a small smile in Michael's direction.

Michael grunted and shrugged with mock nonchalance. 'You're telling me; I still can't get over the fact that right now, I'm the one with the most stable relationship; and I married Maria, remember?'

They all let out a small huff of laughter, it was almost painful to Max, like he'd all but forgotten how to have fun these days.

"Okay, I know we all need to talk about what happened," Tess' voice interrupted the trio's small moment of peace, "but I have to say, you're creeping me out a little bit."

Max's mood changed immediately, and he quickly got to his feet; not feeling secure with having to look up at his enemy. A quick glance around the room, told him that Nasedo was still absent and he settled all his attention back on Tess.

Tess paled, but stood her ground. Her attempt of looking like she wasn't the least bit scared was slightly marred by the fact that she was involuntarily biting her lip. Max didn't speak, waited to hear her jump into numerous excuses. To his surprise, Tess didn't behave as he'd expected. Instead, she straightened up and met his eyes head on for, perhaps the first time ever in this timeline.

"I know I messed up and because of me, someone almost got killed and I'm sorry. I think I acted prematurely on some levels. I'm still not convinced that your aversion to my abilities is healthy in the long run, because they're useful and all that, but…" Tess looked down; it was like Max's eyes were too hard for her to look into for too long. "But all of you have to understand where I'm coming from too. I grew up with Nasedo as my only confidante. He's never actually been fond of humans and I've always been alone, whereas you three always had each other. Then I came here and found to my surprise that I kindda liked a few humans and my life here and I guess I was scared out of my mind to lose it because you seem to want to share your secret with all the humans you meet."

There was a beat of silence, before Tess added quietly, with a regretful look at Isabel, "but I never intended for anyone to get hurt. Hell, I don't even know how Alex knew where to find you in the first place. I'm sorry."

"Are you gonna undo the mindwarp on Kyle?" To Max's mild surprise, it was Michael that asked the question as he gracefully stood back up, holding out a hand to Isabel as she did the same.

Tess glanced at Max and he knew the answer before she even said anything. "I-I can't. I'm sorry."

"Why? You already saw what it's done to your relationship with us! I can't believe-" Tess held up her hands in a placating manner, stopping Michael's rage for the moment.

"It's not a matter of not wanting to do it anymore, Michael." Her eyes sought out Isabel and she continued softly, "but I can't. I don't know how yet. It's never come up before. I can't undo what I did, even if I wanted to."

"And you don't want to…not really," Max spoke up, trying to stay calm as on top of his own emotions, he was attacked by Liz's anger and uncertainty from the inside, tempting him to lose his temper.

Tess sighed and ran a hand through her messy curls. "I don't know to be honest. I was scared that Kyle knowing about us would make him hate me. For some reason, I seemed to have connected more with him than any other human. I even considered using my powers on Liz because she was such a great friend, but then I realized she already knew about us and you're all attached to her too."

"And had your powers even touched Liz, I would've known," Max informed Tess, fighting off the desire to show the woman he'd married in another world just what he'd do if she ever dared truly thinking about using her mindwarp on Liz. "And then make no mistake, I would've killed you." He finished off his warning, ignoring the way the blood rapidly vanished from Tess' already pale face as she replied quietly.

"I'm beginning to see that you three aren't normal high school students even with the alien DNA thing. You're way more ruthless than I could ever be."

Max quickly met Michael's eyes, when Isabel suddenly burst out into a shaky laugh. "You have no idea, Tess. Come on guys, we need to head home now. I'm tired."

Max nodded and waited till Michael had led Isabel out the front door before turning back to Tess. "We want to include you, but pull another stunt like this again and you won't only have Isabel to deal with. And remember this," Max placed his hand almost tenderly on Tess' shaking shoulder. "We're the ones giving orders, not your guardian; don't let his twisted viewpoint on humanity kill what's left of yours. See you tomorrow…"

0o0o0

When the alarm started ringing early next morning, Max sat up and quickly silenced the damned thing. He felt an unusual warmth next to him and looked over at Isabel with a sad smile as the memories of the day before assaulted his mind.

Isabel was pale, and her cheeks were blotchy. It was easy to see that even despite the calm façade she'd shown to Tess before leaving her house had cracked the moment she'd gotten home and been able to think about everything that had happened without distractions.

Max looked at his sister with a small smile still etched on his lips as he recalled how she'd snuck into his room in the middle of the night like she used to do when they were little and had first arrived at the Evans' house. I have to somehow talk to Alex and make him understand that what happened yesterday was not a normal thing; if he starts avoiding Isabel now, she'll break down completely. Living long enough to come back here and make sure he survives so they can be together has been what's kept her sane for so long…

A hint of worry started bubbling in Max's stomach as he kept staring at a still sleeping Isabel. Or so he thought anyway.

"Would you please not look at me like I'm one of the exhibits at the UFO center, Max?" Her voice was rough, but solid and he knew she wanted to act like everything was fine, so he simply nodded and got up, grabbed some fresh clothes and went to the bathroom to get ready for a new day.

A while later the two hybrids went to pick up Michael, who was still living in the trailer, until Mr. Evans could get him emancipated and free to find an apartment on his own.

Max nodded seriously in greeting when he met Michael's gaze for a second before it travelled over to a silent, but apparently coping Isabel. Michael jumped in the back and started talking about random stuff in a manner that Maria had done so many times before in the original timeline.

Max was only listening with a half ear; now that Michael was able to distract Isabel a bit, he had a chance to focus on his own predicament for a minute or two. Liz's anger had faded into annoyance by the time that Max had gone to bed, but he knew that her quest for answers was nowhere near finished. A part of him actually wanted to just come out and tell her everything, but realistically, Max knew that no sixteen year old would be able to handle what he had to say, no matter how mature said teenager was.

"…flyer for that camping thing in Frazier Wood with the Dads'." Michael's words brought Max back to the present and he glanced over at Isabel, who was smiling softly to herself.

"Wait," Max held up a hand, bringing the other two's attention to him, "should we still go? I mean, this time we don't have to look into any alleged crash, because Nasedo is already here and doesn't have any need to send us signals of his arrival. The sheriff isn't as fanatic as he was last time, at least that we know of, and…" he didn't know what else to say.

Surprisingly it was Isabel that continued, "I think we should go. It was a good bonding moment for all of us back then. Maybe it'll work again; I mean, let's face it, aside from Michael, none of us are having much luck in getting back together with our loved ones."

"Again," Michael said with a smirk plastered on his face, "let me point out how that is not what I expected either."

Max sent him a small grin and they didn't speak again until they exited the car in the school's parking lot. Isabel was fiddling with a strap on her book bag as she said with determination lighting up her face. "I for one think the Father's day weekend is a great idea to maintain. And this time, we're bringing Michael."

"What?" Michael objected halfheartedly, "my foster dad is at rehab, I think that pretty much disqualifies me. Sorry." The fake sincerity pretty much dripped from every word.

"Maria was with the Parkers, so she'll most likely be there this time too," Max pointed out, sharing a knowing look with his sister, when Michael's objections immediately seemed to stop.

They agreed to go on the trip this time around, hoping to mend some fences – or in the case of Isabel and Alex, at least stop the teenager from losing his mind out of fear.

Later that day, Max ran into Liz as she was coming out of the restroom, mostly due to the fact that he'd been standing in wait just to see her after he'd felt her presence through their shared connection. To his shock, and instant irritation, he saw that Tess was with Liz. His eyes darted over Liz's figure, making damn sure that she was okay. Aside from looking like she was having the mother of all colds, Liz looked just as perfect as ever. Except from the small glare she sent him when she noticed his wandering eyes.

"This is the ladies room, Max," she said with a cool tone in her voice. To Max's relief, Liz's anger wasn't hiding the small spike of desire, affection and surprisingly something that felt like guilt that rose inside of her the moment their eyes linked.

"I know," Max said quietly, "I was…" his eyes landed on the silent hybrid and he grabbed the first excuse he could think of, "looking for Tess."

The skeptical look Tess sent him managed to make Max feel like the teenager he looked like for the first time since arriving in this new and old world. "Me? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," was all Max could force out as he simultaneously struggled with not letting his keen embarrassment through the bond to Liz. Judging from the small smile on her lips, he wasn't doing as well as he'd hoped. An idea popped into his head and he turned to Tess again. "Yes, Isabel was wondering if you were coming to the camping thing in Frazier Woods with your...uhm, Dad."

"You're going?" Liz interjected before Tess could much more than stand with her mouth open in surprise over his absurd question. "I mean…you're going?"

"Yeah," Max replied, trying to act like he didn't understand her confusion. "I love to camp. So, Tess," he redirected his attention on the blonde, who still hadn't moved a muscle, "are you and Na- Mr. Harding going?"

"I'm not sure," Tess answered slowly, and Max knew why she was looking so dubious. Just the day before, they'd all showed up at her house, basically trying to hurt her as painfully as possible and now here he was pretty much asking her to join them on a camping trip, with Nasedo; an alien that had never hidden his dislike for humans.

What am I doing? Max asked himself, knowing the recipe for disaster he was cooking up. Nasedo's never going to act normal around any of them…and I can't put Liz or the rest in jeopardy; I might have ordered him to behave, but I know he's not going to be nice about it – especially to Liz and Maria…

"I'd actually love it if you went," Liz spoke and interrupted Max's internal bashing of himself. He instantly straightened up with a frown, still not used to dealing with a Liz that didn't all but foam at the mouth whenever Tess came up in the conversation.

Those beautiful brown eyes that he loved so much glanced up at Max and he swallowed down his initial domineering response of forbidding her to interact with Tess, reminding himself firmly that for one thing Liz had never really liked him ordering her around and also, the friendship growing between the two women was proof of their whole time travelling plan working.

Liz turned her attention back to Tess with a beaming smile, "my dad is sort of guilting me into going and I already planned on bribing Maria into going later, but it'll be nice to have another girl there. And Isabel too of course," here Liz shot Max another oddly knowing look.

"I'll talk to him," Tess promised and then looked extremely grateful for the bell ringing and interrupting the very surreal conversation a second later. Liz sent Max a secretive smile before she too followed Tess to her next class.

The moment that Max could no longer see Liz, he turned around and made his way to the teacher's lounge, so he could give Nasedo a few words of warning, just in case that Liz was present when Tess asked him about that stupid camping trip.

A few minutes later, Max arrived at his destination and knocked on the door once. He quickly entered without waiting for a response and let his eyes wander around the not very crowded room with an alertness that came from always having to spot anything unusual with one look in a very heated war.

It was the usual mix of idealistic teachers that were talking animatedly to each other about their wonderful students, comparing ways to engage them further. There was the normal middle-aged group of tired teachers, huddled together in the corner, looking like they didn't know whether to weep over the fact that the day wasn't over yet or just put their heads in their arms and sleep until they could go home.

Then of course there were two other people that sat by themselves in the small couch area by the windows. Spotting Nasedo, Max sighed inwardly and walked towards him. Next to the alien, who was in his Mr. Harding body at the moment, sat Kathleen Topolsky and the time since she'd discovered their secret and been abducted so violently by Nasedo had not been good to her.

She was paler than ever, with dark circles under her eyes that not even makeup had any hope of hiding. Her hair was clean, but lacked any of its usual shine and her eyes. Well, she looked both extremely shocked and tired at the same time and Max had seen the look often enough in his lifetimes to recognize a person on the edge and he felt a wave of sympathy for the woman that, although her objective had been less than good to Max and his family, had only been doing her job.

"Hello Mr. Evans," Nasedo spotted him first and Max stopped once he was just out of reach; old habits died hard apparently. "What may I help you with this fine day?"

Topolsky's blue-grey eyes turned to Max and she looked at him with something akin to both fear and gratitude. "H-hello Max," she whispered and quickly turned her attention back on the cup of coffee in her hands. Max's respect for the F.B.I. agent heightened a fraction when he noticed that despite her obvious anxiousness, she wasn't trembling. After the last few battle filled years in his original timeline, Max had grown to respect the people that didn't break easily under pressure.

He nodded once at her and looked back at Nasedo. "I wanted to talk to you about something, alone," he added once Nasedo reached out to lift Topolsky up from her seat to follow them to a more private location.

"I can't do that," Nasedo disagreed, looking around to check for unwanted ears, "she's not been completely broken in yet, so I can't trust her alone in these quarters. I can only leave her alone when she's at her apartment because I've taken liberties in assuring that she can't contact her boss there and-"

"Leave the poor woman alone," Max's temper rose when he spotted the slight flinch that Topolsky couldn't quite repress, "I trust her and she won't reveal anything. We'll be right back, Miss Topolsky."

Max pointed at the door and waited for Nasedo to walk towards it and then turned back to the once again frozen agent. "I promise you that I did not know he was so adamant in his surveillance of you. I'll make sure you get your freedom back."

"What if I run to my superiors with everything I know?" Topolsky muttered, not making eye contact as her eyes remained trained on Nasedo's disappearing form. "You can't trust me."

"I know," Max answered honestly, "I'm not entirely stupid, but I'm not as inhuman as your dear Mr. Pierce seems to think so either. Relax Kathleen; I won't let him hurt you anymore."

And with that Max reached out and planted a hand gently on Topolsky's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly before following his much too independent protector. He pretended he didn't hear the confused woman's words of, "you shouldn't trust me, Max…but thank you."

Michael's POV

The entire time since he'd walked away from Maria in that hallway to go to Tess' house, Michael had fought his instincts to keep away from her. Her tumult emotions had been ramming into him so heavily all night that he had barely gotten one hour's decent sleep combined.

So, of course his first order of business the second he exited Max's jeep, was to go find Maria.

The blond was talking animatedly with Liz in whispered tones when Michael finally laid eyes on her again, feeling his battered soul calm down as he was once more within reach of her. He stopped his approach when he recognized the signs in front of him; she was deeply engrossed in something her future self had referred to as, "best friend duties," completely devoted to whatever it was that Liz was muttering to her.

Finally it seemed as though Liz had nothing else to say and just as Michael was about to walk over to the two young women, Tess walked by Liz and was seemingly roped into the conversation by the tenacious brunette.

Okay, when the hell did they become friends? Michael's confusion bled through the bond and within seconds, Maria looked up and locked eyes with him. Raising a brow at his no doubt slightly scowling expression, Maria excused herself from Liz and Tess and walked over to him.

Michael usually devoted all his energy on watching his love being…well, alive, but he couldn't help but watch Liz and Tess out of the corner of his eye. Over the years, Liz and he had developed a close friendship and she'd talked to him about Tess and the betrayal a few times, something she still didn't do much whenever Max was around. He in turn managed to tell her things about his fears of losing Maria, of not winning the war and their friendship had blossomed. Michael truly loved Liz as the sister he never had, so there was a big part of him that wanted to go after her, when she started walking away with Tess trailing her, looking slightly confused and yet happy about the contact at the same time.

It was the look in Tess' eyes that stopped him, maybe she had a point about being lonely all those years, Michael pondered briefly, trying to see past his old hatred for the fellow hybrid, and he could feel the fresh anger at her actions towards Kyle dim, if only just a little bit. I was alone too in a way with Hank and feeling like a complete screw up compared to Max and Isabel, but I was saved from my loneliness when Max healed Liz and introduced all the humans in our lives…Would I have turned out as prejudiced if Liz hadn't been shot? The thought scared him and he repressed a small shudder at the mere thought of never having bothered to see beneath the obvious and get to know Maria or the rest of his friends for that matter.

"Hey Spaceboy," Maria's voice interrupted Michael's ponderings and he looked down at her, already smiling a little at the mere sight of her healthy and unharmed. "Are you finally ready to fill me in on the whole debacle that was yesterday?"

Running a hand through his messy hair, Michael sighed. "That depends."

Maria crossed her arms and struck a pose that clearly stated that he better spill everything, "that depends on what, Guerin?"

"On whether or not you'll accept that there are certain things that I can't tell you." Michael answered, hating that he just couldn't tell her everything, but also knowing that it was impossible.

"Can't or won't?" Maria didn't back down and Michael had to stop himself from smiling again.

"Both. So, what's it gonna be?"

"Fine," Maria lifted her hands with a shrug, running a hand through her hair, mimicking Michael's earlier movement. "But I swear if you don't tell me why I had to calm my otherwise extremely calm and collected best friend down from a tantrum yesterday, then I won't be held responsible for what happens to you."

The bell rang before Michael had a chance to respond, so he just nodded mutely and took Maria's hand gently in his. "Let's skip first period and I'll try to avoid too many secrets."

The feel of Maria's warm hand soothed Michael's still edgy feelings, and he let out a small sigh of genuine happiness when he felt her squeeze his hand softly.

A few minutes later, they were sitting in the eraser room and Michael quickly narrated that there had been an issue with Tess that had had to be resolved as quickly as possible.

"…and then Liz showed up, looking ready to kill and Max talked to her and that's all I know." Michael finished his tale and leaned back against the wall exhaling deeply and hoping that his (hopefully) future wife would just accept the story and move on.

Maria sat down gingerly next to him, looking troubled. "Well, I promised not to ask questions and all that…but why are you having issues with Tess? I mean, aside from this weird wipe every now and again, she's pretty cool. Liz seems to think so too, she's taken her under her wing."

"Well," damn it was hard to keep things hidden, "she was raised differently and that's pretty much the main reason. I'm sorry I can't tell you more, Maria."

They sat in silence for a long moment, before Michael continued quietly, "for what it's worth, I wish I could tell you everything."

Maria smiled softly and then she surprised him by putting her head on his shoulder and taking his hand in her lap, covering it with her own. "I know, Spaceboy, I know."

0o0o0

After he'd enjoyed a small moment of peace with the love of his life, Michael decided to tackle the second obstacle he'd promised himself to handle that day.

Alex.

He found the gangly teen in his last class of the day, sitting in his usual seat that was next to Michael's. When Michael entered the classroom, Alex's eyes darted from him to the seat and then back again. It was clear as day that the human did not look forward to being in close proximity with him.

Well, tough, Michael thought and prepared to calm the obviously still freaked Alex down. A few more steps and then Michael was sitting next to Alex, trying to act cool.

"Hey Whitman," he greeted with a friendly smile, and skillfully ignoring the small cringe that Alex gave in reply, "got a sec after class?"

"W-well, I'm…You and…I…busy," Alex managed to squeak forth before the teacher arrived and interrupted Michael's attempt at conversation.

The class went by agonizingly slow, and when the bell rang, Alex was out the chair and halfway out the door before Michael had even straightened out from his bored slouch.

Michael quickly followed and then laughed inwardly when he spotted the gym teacher standing right in front of Alex with a huge bunch of colored flyers in his hand. Michael heard the teacher exclaim something about failing if he didn't pass enough out and decided to butt in, seeing a chance to get Alex alone.

"I'll help you, Alex. With two pairs of hands it won't take long; we can't have you flunking, now can we? Thanks Coach," Michael grabbed half of the flyers and placed them unceremoniously in Alex's trembling hands and then led him over to a more secluded spot, carrying his own half of flyers.

"I'm not gonna be scared into doing anything," Alex hissed as soon as Michael released him. The fierce look in Alex's eyes reminded Michael that, although soft by nature, there was a courageous man inside Alex that had stood side by side with them through everything until his much too untimely death.

"Relax Dude," Michael sighed, "I'm not out to hurt you. I just wanted to talk to you about yesterday."

It was like he'd spoken magic words because in the next instant, Alex completely stopped moving. "I completely get why you're freaking out; going through what you did and then discovering the truth about our background is nothing to laugh at, I know."

Alex held up a hand, "I'm not gonna tell anyone, so you can stop hassling me; besides, it's not like I'd be able to tell anyone, is it? No one would believe me."

"Liz and Maria would," Michael couldn't help but smirk as he watched Alex piece things together quickly.

"That's what they were hiding…But…"Alex stopped, looking confused and still a bit dazed about everything.

"Liz found out when Max healed her when she was shot and Maria discovered soon after that. So you're not alone, Alex," Michael tried to make his voice as gentle as he could, as though speaking to a wild animal. "Isabel is devastated about what happened, Alex. It was an accident, I swear."

"It didn't look like an accident when she was aiming for the new girl," Alex pointed out, his hand trailing the place where he'd been wounded unconsciously. "In fact I'd put a lot of money on the fact that she wasn't accidentally trying to hurt that girl."

"That's a whole different and much more complicated story," Michael said and smiled sadly, "Trust me when I say it'll make what you learned yesterday seem like nothing in comparison. Now," clapping his hands together, trying to lighten the mood, Michael changed the subject, "let's go hand out some flyers, shall we?"

To his surprise, Alex actually nodded and followed him down the hall, handing out papers to whoever happened to pass him by. At one point Michael saw Alex head in the direction of Liz and Maria, who were walking down the hall and he just knew that the three humans had some stuff to talk through, so he sighed and decided to go look for Isabel.

I just hope I got through to him, or else I don't know what we'll do…Michael tried to ignore the foreboding feeling he got at the very thought of Isabel's response to an Alex that feared her forever, and started looking for Isabel.

Topolsky's POV

Kathleen was sitting quietly in her small office, looking out the window without really seeing anything. It was odd, almost frightening in a way to be sitting alone in the little room. She hadn't actually been truly alone since Nasedo had taken her and tried to kill her so ruthlessly.

The memory of the way the poison in her veins had paralyzed her body, but not her brain threatened to overcome her, and the walls suddenly seemed like they were closing in on her.

She jumped to her feet, gasping, and hurried over to the window, opening it enough so that the illusion of being squashed slowly ebbed out of her. A few minutes later, Kathleen had regained her senses and she walked back to her desk.

An half an hour later, she still hadn't moved and she frowned. Why haven't I picked up the damned phone and called Pierce? He needs to know, that's what I came here for and now I know everything. We should protect the country from them…

Unbidden, a picture of Max standing in the desert, growling with anger at the sight of what had been done to her, came to her and she sighed heavily. "I can get in touch with Pierce before anyone can do anything about it…I should contact him and give him my statement…Max is stupid for believing in me; I warned him…"

The clock on the wall ticked merrily on and still Kathleen didn't move.

TBC…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time On The Antarian Timetravellers: Frazier Woods and Kyle – Need I say more?


	17. Liz, Isabel, Maria, Max, Kyle and Isabel

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Liz's POV

"You do it."

"Nope."

"Come on, please. You're so much better at this kind of thing."

"Oh really? Calming down people is my forte because I freak out a lot? Thank you so much. Now, it's definitely not gonna be me."

"Maria!" Liz practically whined, but the determined set of her best friend's jaw told her it was no use. "I didn't mean it like that, it's just that you're way better at handling him then I am."

Maria rolled her eyes and uncrossed her arms to point a finger accusingly at her, "Be that as it may, Parker, but I am still mad at you for somehow managing to get me to do this stupid weekend in the first place, so you should be the one getting Alex to come too. Not me. Besides, it was your idea."

Liz sighed and pointed out with a small smile, "I paid you an agreed upon amount of money and I'll do some of your homework too, so you're not exactly being dragged on this weekend, you know…"

"That's completely beside the point," Maria copied Liz's smile and straightened up. "The point is, that you thought that Alex wasn't completely okay with the knowledge of our Czechoslovakian friends when we talked to him at school and you got the oh so brilliant idea to convince him to come with us to the frigging woods to clear the air with said Czechoslovakians, where we'll all end up in a circle singing Kumbaya or something like that if things go according to your plan. Right?"

Liz bit her lip, "Yeah that pretty much sums everything up."

"Good," Maria yawned so widely, her jaw creaked ominously, "then pull yourself together and start ringing the doorbell. I still can't believe you got me up so early just for this, so let's not waste it. Go on."

Grinning sheepishly, Liz took a deep breath in preparation for what would no doubt be a fierce battle. At the same time, her mind wandered to the reason why she'd come up with this unusual plan in the first place.

At school when he'd marched up to them with a mixture between a scowl and a betrayed look on his tired face, Liz had tried, along with Maria, to explain to Alex that the teenage aliens in their lives weren't really so bad. Then the obviously frightened Alex had proceeded to inform them just how wrong they were, according to him. The thought of Isabel being deadly didn't surprise anyone much, especially Maria, who'd spewed something about Queen Amidala yet again, but the knowledge of what they were all capable of and just how close Alex had been to death, did mute their attempts at talking for a little while.

Of course, Alex had taken the opportunity to sneak away, leaving both Liz and Maria in a shocked daze. When they'd tried looking for their lanky friend, he was gone and no matter how much they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found. After that, Liz and to a lesser degree, Maria had taken to calling his house once an hour to get him to talk, with no luck.

So now the two young girls were standing outside of the Whitman's residence at the crack of dawn, fully intending on dragging Alex, and his father, with them to Frazier Woods so they could clear the air with the Czechoslovakians.

And then, Liz thought to herself as she squared her shoulders and finally rang the doorbell, maybe I'll get a chance to get Max alone and talk to him. I still owe him an apology for blowing up in his face after all.

It wasn't Alex who opened the door after a few long moments, why that surprised her, Liz didn't know, but she smiled awkwardly at the small, but plumb robe wearing form that was Alex's mother.

"Hi Mrs. Whitman," Liz greeted before the older woman could do anything other than raise a brow in confused questioning. "Is Alex up? We kind of need to talk to him…Oh and Mr. Whitman too, if that's all right?"

Five minutes later, found them all gathered in the cozy kitchen, where Mrs. Whitman fluttered about in her quest to make some breakfast. Mr. Whitman was nursing a cup of coffee, looking just as dog-tired and eager for bed as Maria, who was sitting beside him, did. And Alex was sitting quietly in front of Liz, his eyes told her that he knew she was up to something and that he wasn't about to make it easy for her.

Well tough luck, Liz thought, getting ready for her plan to start fully, I'm getting you out of the house whether you like it or not.

Thus started the biggest act in Liz's life, helped generously along by Maria; within three minutes, Liz had pointed out all the times their friendship had meant the world to her, how many times they'd stood united against injustices in the world and how his unwillingness to share a wonderful weekend with his two best friends was slowly killing her with disappointment. After five minutes, Liz pulled out the big guns and started in on the fact that time was running out for them to just be children; how their time with their parents as guides were ebbing out before life as college students and more would get in the way, and wouldn't it just be a great way to repay their fathers to spend some quality time with them before it was too late? Ten minutes after Liz had pulled out the "parents aren't around forever card," Mr. Whitman was looking deeply saddened, his sorrow only heightened when Maria softly, and with big soulful eyes mentioned what she wouldn't give to have a dad to spend some time with.

Alex was looking decidedly uncomfortable; having obviously already figured out what Liz was up to. What sealed the deal completely though wasn't anything Liz or Maria had planned. No, Liz looked on in satisfied surprise, as the softhearted Mrs. Whitman turned around with tears trailing down her cheeks and embraced Maria tightly, before ordering her husband to go out and buy some sleeping bags as quickly as possible so they wouldn't be late for the trip.

Liz shared a look with Alex, who, like her, was ignoring the sputtering from Maria as his mother very nearly choked the life out of her in sympathy. Well played, his almost amused eyes said silently and Liz smirked, knowing that she had just pulled off something pretty brilliant.

Isabel's POV

Isabel was sitting quietly in her father's car as they drove to the school where they'd all take a bus to the camping site in Frazier woods. Max was nodding sporadically to make their dad believe they were all in fact listening and just as psyched up for this upcoming weekend as he was. And Michael was sitting next to Isabel glaring at the scenery, looking very much like the teenager he portrayed.

A few minutes later, they arrived and all of them exited the vehicle and followed Philip Evans to the trunk to help carry their equipment. Philip's friendly face practically beamed with delight and Isabel felt a pinch of guilt for how not enthusiastic she and her brother had been the first time around.

This was the last time we ever did anything with Dad before our lives became so messed up, Isabel realized with a soft sigh as she took the dreadfully pink sleeping bag that Max handed to her. No matter how this weekend will go with Alex and the others, I have to spend some time with Dad to make him happy. He's my dad after all and I've missed him just as much as all the others we came back for…

"Sweetie," Philip's voice interrupted Isabel's thoughts and she turned to him, matching his still huge smile with a little, but heartfelt, effort. "I can't tell you how much it means to me to see you two joining in like this. And Michael too, of course."

Isabel shared a reminiscing glance with Max as the memory of the first time Philip Evans had said that washed over her. Then she said with a fond tone in her voice, "That's us Dad, we're joiners now. Right guys?"

Max nodded and none too discreetly nudged Michael's ribs, who grunted out an agreement as well. It was obvious that his attention was on the yellow bus, hoping to catch a glimpse of Maria.

Philip grinned, his intelligent eyes probably noticing more than he led on, and he started making conversation with some of the other Dads' that were standing patiently in wait to enter the bus. Suddenly, Isabel spotted Alex and her heart skipped a beat.

He came, I can't believe that despite everything he still came, Isabel thought, remembering how spontaneous Alex's participation been the last time around, because of his feelings for her.

Before she even realized she was doing it, Isabel was on the move. She reached Mr. Whitman with a beaming smile on her face, pretending not to hurt inside when Alex quickly edged away from her and she felt a spike of fear from him.

"Hi Alex, I'm so happy you came. I didn't think you would."

Mr. Whitman briefly wore an expression that looked a lot like the one Alex used to wear whenever Isabel smiled at him before he apparently remembered that Isabel had spoken to them and broke into a chuckling laugh. "Well, actually Alex isn't exactly here of his own free will."

Isabel's eyes went to Alex's filled with curiosity, but once more, he was actively not looking anywhere near her, so Mr. Whitman quickly explained before the silence grew too awkward, "The credit for our participation all goes to Liz and Maria." Mr. Whitman grinned, hoisting a brand new sleeping bag out of the trunk of his car with a bit of difficulty, "Alex's been a bit moody these last few days and I figured he was fighting with his friends, because Liz and Maria kept calling him until finally they showed up early this morning and well," the older man, whose gangly nature had been passed on to his only child, looked a bit embarrassed as he finished his story, "here we are. We Whitman men have never been able to deny pretty girls anything. Isn't that right, Son?"

Alex shrugged and still didn't really say anything and Isabel knew that she had to do something before she lost him.

"So, did you talk with Liz and Maria? Did they," Isabel glanced over at Mr. Whitman, whose attention was now focused on one of the other dads. "Explain things? I mean, it must be easier to get the story from them since you share the same species."

Alex's eyes snapped to hers and Isabel winced, "Too soon?"

"They're checking the names now," he eventually said, shifting his eyes away from hers yet again as he started making his way over to the waiting bus where people were forming lines.

The sight of his quickly retreating back almost broke Isabel, but she wasn't known for her icy personality for no reason. She blinked away the excess moisture in her eyes and decided then and there that no matter how scared Alex was of them, of her; she was definitely going to change his mind. After all, Maria's fears were just as bad as his and she ended up being one of my closest friends…

Nodding to herself, Isabel all but skipped over to the bus and when her name was called she held up a hand and said with a cute, dimpled smile to the man holding the clipboard, "I'll be right in; I just need to fix my hair before the long ride; you know how it is, it can get really frilly and…" seeing the visibly disinterested look that she was aiming for, Isabel waited patiently, like a lion stalking her prey, for Alex's name to be called. She completely ignored Max's raised eyebrow at her shenanigans, her loss of dignity was not as important as her plans.

The moment, Alex stepped into the bus, Isabel used her, for once blessed, height to shove people out of the way and get inside the vehicle just after him. Fortunately, Alex was so focused on getting a seat that he didn't notice her and guess her plan. He sat down in an empty seat by the window in the back of the bus and before he could get a chance to do much of anything, Isabel slid in next to him with a big, cheerful smile on her face.

"Well, isn't this nice? We're gonna have such a great time together, Alex. I just love this kind of stuff, although I hope the weather stays okay because I haven't packed much to be honest. I can't wait till we get there and I heard from some of the others that we light fires and chit chat all night. I think that's awesome. Don't you?" Isabel practically chirped, using her dumb blonde tone of voice, making sure to trap Alex's attention when she twirled some of her hair seductively around her finger.

Operation: "Remind Alex That Isabel Is Also Human," had commenced.

Maria's POV

Maria's mood was very mixed at the time they reached the woods. She still hadn't quite forgiven Liz's quick thinking to get her to attend. Although, I have to say that Michael's participation is an unexpected bonus. Maria smiled to herself and watched the animated look in Michael's eyes as he tried keeping a conversation going.

Liz wasn't talking much, and it had never exactly been his words that characterized Michael, so it could have gone better.

Although, Maria pondered as she looked between her best friend and the guy that she lo- cared deeply about, he never looks at her with that broody glare he used to give us all before the shooting. Now that I think about it, he kindda looks like he cares about Liz.

The thought sent a rush of pure dread through Maria's very being and she quickly forced herself to feel contentment to prevent Michael from realizing she was going through something. Is he into Liz too? If I have to compete with her, I doubt I'll win. She's everything I'm not; smart, brunette, smart and I wish I had her skin tone…

As though Michael knew what was going through her head, he turned his head slightly and looked at her with so much emotion that she couldn't deny that she was acting pretty crazy. All the small moments they'd shared lately cemented that belief and she breathed a sigh of relief.

To stop her mind from coming up with even worse theories, Maria looked around the crowded bus and her eyes landed briefly on Isabel and Alex. The latter was looking almost more uncomfortable than he'd done when Liz had turned his parents against him earlier that morning. Isabel was acting decidedly un-Isabel like and Maria frowned. I have to keep an eye on those two. If she hurts him, I'll just go scrounge up some kind of Czechoslovakian Kryptonite and then I'll whoop her shapely behind so hard that-

"Maria?"

Liz's voice interrupted Maria's scheming and she looked over at Liz. "What?"

"Michael asked you a question?" Liz's tone was amused and Maria had a feeling that the brunette knew exactly what she'd been doing. Instead of saying anything to Liz, Maria turned her full attention on Michael with a sincere smile on her lips.

"I just asked you how you got roped into coming to this thing?" Michael repeated, mimicking Maria's smile, something that made him even more attractive in the young blonde's opinion.

"Oh, it's a long and devious tale filled with guilt, bribes and promises of premade math homework." Maria grinned when Michael's laugh boomed out in the bus; she really liked his laugh. It was warm and throaty as if he rarely used it.

"I see," he shook his head after a few seconds and ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up a little. In that moment, the morning light shone through the windows and illuminated Michael in a way that made Maria struggle for breath for a second, she could feel something stir within her; something that was rather primal and embarrassing in a bus filled with strangers and more importantly friends.

In a hastened attempt to make sure that no one, and in particular Michael, realized what was going on, Maria leaned forward a bit and asked, "so what about you, Spaceboy? How'd you get roped into this whole thing?"

To Maria's immense surprise, Michael actually flushed. A trail of red went from his throat to his cheeks and for some reason; Maria absolutely loved the sight of a sheepish Michael.

"Well," the object of her thoughts replied with a shrug, "I didn't want to go at first to be honest. But then I changed my mind, got to know a bit more details."

Maria's curiosity squelched her desire and she probed further, "what kind of details?"

The look Michael then sent her, made Maria's heart skip a beat and this time it was her fighting off a blush unsuccessfully as he answered quietly, "I found out that you'd be there too, so how could I not come?"

Max's POV

Max sat silently and observed his sister's actions, while also keeping an eye out for what Liz was doing. Currently, she was sitting in the front next to Maria, who was chatting intimately with a soft smiling Michael.

The memory of the original trip to Frazier Woods kept popping up and Max grimaced as he reluctantly tore his eyes away from Liz's smiling profile. I guess this trip always takes place when Liz and I are going through difficult times. I have to find a way to make her see that all my secrets doesn't matter; only our love does…

A spike of brief concern ran into him from Liz's side of the bond and Max immediately looked back over at her. But she wasn't looking at him, instead her face was turned away in much the same manner his was just seconds before.

Before Max really got a chance to wonder what was going through his soul mate's head, he noticed Sheriff Valenti looking at him with a familiar look in his eyes. It was a look that Max hadn't seen since he'd saved Kyle in the original timeline, a look of pure suspicion.

Max pretended to be confused and raised his eyebrows slightly; it worked perfectly. The sheriff looked away and dove into a quick conversation with Jeff Parker, who was sitting in the seat in front of him. I thought he wasn't after us this time around, Max thought, hating that seemingly no matter what he did, he just couldn't help but relive certain aspects of his former life, I need to keep an eye out. I won't tell Iz or Michael before I have more concrete proof of Jim sniffing around. It'll just scare them and we have enough problems as it is.

Max ignored that sensible part of him that pointed out, rather forcefully that he was once again trying to do everything himself and that he had promised himself and those he loved to stop before he ended up doing something stupid to escape the burdens. Like sleeping with and impregnating Tess.

The mere thought sent an itchy shiver down Max's spine. Well that's not gonna happen again, he thought with a sigh and leaned his head back to rest a bit. But none the less, I should listen to my conscience for once and tell the others about Jim as soon as this weekend is over. I have to stop trying to keep everything on my own shoulders. Isabel and Michael have seen just as much as me and are perfectly capable of shouldering things too.

Max rolled his shoulders to get the rising tension out of his body, and silently rejoiced in the fact that Tess and her "father" wouldn't be joining them in Frazier Woods due to some sudden family emergency. It was a relief to the hybrid king, although he felt a pinch of pity for Kathleen Topolsky, who was now left behind with Nasedo as her only company.

So deep into his own thoughts was he that Max didn't notice at first when the bus started slowing down. Only when it came to an abrupt halt like busses were prone to do, did he blink out of his mind and noticed the change in scenery.

A lot could be said about the first time he'd lived through the camping weekend in Frazier Woods, but for the first time Max was mature enough to take in the beauty of the lush green surroundings; the sounds of birds chirping and the usual ruffle of sounds that came from such places. After spending years on the run and then even more years engaged in battle, Max could appreciate the serenity that was an old forest full of uncomplicated life.

"Come on, Son," Philip's voice roused him before Max's mind conjured up too many images of the deadly fights he'd been through and he sent a grateful smile to his father, who was acting like a kid in his eagerness to get outside and just have some fun.

Unbeknownst to him, Max mirrored his sister's earlier promise of setting more time aside to spend with not only his father, but his mother as well; especially her since a part of him never really had forgiven himself for being the one to end her life in the original timeline.

The memory of that wasn't exactly something that Max thought about if he could avoid it, so he quickly hoisted his bag over his shoulder and followed the others outside.

0o0o0

A little later, Max put the finishing touch on raising the tent he was going to share with Michael and looked around.

Isabel had also just finished with the tent she was going to share with their dad and was already on the move towards Alex and his dad, who was standing around awkwardly, both staring at the evidently just purchased tent in their hands with identical looks of bewilderment and slight worry.

Max swallowed a smile, hoping that Isabel's take charge attitude would shake Alex out of his fear and remind him that she was still the girl he'd been in love with basically all his life.

A muttered curse interrupted Max's subtle surveillance of his sister's backhanded wooing and he quickly looked around where he spotted Kyle with one of his fingers in his mouth, scowling at the half-raised tent in front of him. Sheriff Valenti wasn't helping, instead he was chatting amiably with Jeff Parker yet again.

Taking a deep breath, Max made his way over to Kyle. "Need a hand? None of mine are bleeding," he added with a small twitch of his lips, hoping that Kyle would understand the joke. Luckily, Kyle's irritation over the tent situation was bigger than his old annoyance with Max's general presence, so he nodded.

"Yeah, thanks, Man. I don't know what's gotten into me; I'm usually not this clumsy. I just have a killer headache; haven't been drinking enough water today." He explained further when Max's brows furrowed a bit.

It didn't take Max long before the tent was up and ready to be used. Kyle nodded his thanks once more and went inside the tent with his bag, looking for all the world like he just wanted to sleep. He'd been surprisingly civil towards Max despite having been mindwarped to forget that he wasn't actually an active part of the 'I hate Max Evans'-club anymore.

It is nice to see that his mind hasn't completely reverted to Jock again; Max thought as he stretched out his back and continued looking around to see if anyone else needed a helping hand. Not too far away from where he was standing, Max saw Michael adeptly helping Maria and Liz with their tent.

After all the nights they'd spent in the wild, Max, Michael and Isabel were practically experts in the field of camping, so it was not really a surprise to Max that they'd been the first ones done.

"Max, come on over here for a sec," Max heard his dad yell from across the small clearing where he was standing with Jeff and Sheriff Valenti. Every instinct in Max told him to act casual, doing his damndest to act his supposed age and not like the man who'd led a war.

"What's up?" Max very nearly cringed at the croaky attempt of speech, but he played it off and waited for his dad to answer his question.

It wasn't Philip that replied though, it was Sheriff Valenti, "Hey, Son. I just wanted to thank you for helping my boy out. It was mighty nice of you, but I'm sure I can manage the rest from now on. It's a father's day weekend, after all so I've gotta have something to do."

Only Max recognized the subtle warning in the older man's voice as the other men chuckled merrily at Valenti's alleged joke. Max hated the way the sheriff's eyes were cold and without any warmth at all like he'd been used to once upon a time. There was a big part within Max that wanted to just embrace the man that had become a father figure and close friend, but he knew that Jim would either shoot him or have him committed for mental problems if he acted on that impulse.

The memory of the last time he'd seen Jim Valenti alive rose without warning inside of him and Max quickly excused himself to find a private place to battle his demons. A few minutes later, hidden safely away from view, Max allowed the memory to surface completely, knowing that it would be better to just let it play out.

It had been an early winter's morning, the sun had barely settled on the cloudy sky before word had reached their temporary camp that some of Khivar's men were approaching fast.

Max had been more dead than alive at that time after a run in with Khivar himself just a few days earlier, so he hadn't been able to stop Jim from lending a hand. "You can't take them on," Max had whispered, desperately trying to force a few more drops of his own healing power into his wounds, ignoring Liz's and Isabel's disapproving looks with an ease that came from practice, "you're only human. It isn't your fight, Jim. Wait for Michael; he's gonna be here soon…"

Jim's eyes had crinkled up in a soft smile as he'd crouched in front of Max. "Ah, but Son, don't you get it? There's people out there trying to kill you; that makes it my fight. Michael's group won't arrive until it's too late and you and yours are too worn out to do anything other than get yourselves killed."

"If you go out there alone, you're the one getting killed," Liz had protested quietly from behind Max, but Jim had simply smiled sadly in reply.

"If one can't die for their family, what can they die for? Just," he'd stopped for a second before placing his hand on Max's shoulder and squeezing it firmly, briefly letting his true feelings of fear and grief shine through his weary eyes, "…just tell my boy I love him, okay? Don't let him mourn his old man too much."

Max hadn't had any intentions of letting Jim run out to protect them, to give the rest of them time to escape, but the next thing he knew, Jim had pressed his fingers on a certain point on Max's neck and forced him to pass out. The last thing Max had heard before darkness claimed him had been Jim apologizing. When he'd woken up several hours later, they'd escaped their pursuers and Jim was dead.

The anguish of that memory cursed through his veins like liquid fire; it was something that he, like the circumstances of his mother's death, had never really processed. Get yourself together Man, Max tried heroically to fight off the pain of his past, but the more he fought it, the harder it became to not succumb to the misery swirling inside of him.

The feeling of a small, warm hand on his cheek brought him slightly down to earth and Max opened his eyes, knowing without question who it was that was trying to ground him in reality.

"Max," Liz's brown eyes were filled with concern, but her voice was calm and soothing; her touch sending a much different fire through his being. "Just breathe, okay? You're having some kind of a panic attack; just breathe through it and everything's gonna be fine, I promise. Do it with me; in and out. Come on, you can do it."

Max took a quivering breath, slowly beating the demonic memories down with the help of the one person in the world he couldn't live without. And exhaled loudly, expelling his fears and his stupid chaotic thoughts, trying to reach some semblance of normality again.

It took a little while before the sense fully returned to Max and when he finally managed to put the lid on his mind for the time being, he realized he was standing with his forehead resting on Liz's with her hands on his cheeks. He blinked, feeling himself flush a bit in embarrassment, but she smiled so sweetly up at him that he knew that she didn't think less of him despite his obvious issues.

"Are you back now?" asked Liz almost in a murmur and Max nodded mutely, too engrossed in the moment to risk ruining it by speaking. But the quiet moment between them was inevitably ruined a bit a second later, when Liz suddenly scrunched up her face and quickly turned her head sideways to sneeze loudly. Twice.

Immediately, Max's worries for her overshadowed any he had for his own woes and he quickly reversed their positions, placing his big hands on her face, checking to see if her temperature was elevated.

"Max, don't," Liz laughed hoarsely and batted his hands away, "I'm fine. It's just a stupid cold. I've got some pills in my tent so I'll be fine."

"Okay, but…uhm, if you need any relief of the Czechoslovakian kind, please let me know," Max glanced around, noticing that Michael was standing just out of hearing range with Maria at his side. Apparently, he too had felt the pain that Max was reliving and had come to help; only to be beaten by Liz.

Liz smiled and discreetly wiped her runny nose with a paper towel from her pocket while she seemingly thought that Max was distracted by looking over at Michael, who sent him a relieved look and walked away with Maria trailing him.

"I'm sort of happy to see that you're still willing to talk to me actually," Liz's soft-spoken words brought Max's full attention back on her and she bit her lip nervously before continuing, "I know I haven't exactly been a good friend to you lately, Max. I pushed you to tell me all your secrets, not respecting the fact that they're your personal business. I'm sorry I overreacted."

"It's okay," Max smiled, enjoying the flash of genuine happiness in Liz's eyes. Then he downright grinned when her face transformed into a fake serious mask and she spoke again.

"Of course, I still wanna know everything. So when you're ready to talk, and won't feel pushed about it, come find me. I'm usually at school or at this little diner where I wear this green uniform."

"Really?" For Max, the mischievous banter was a breath of fresh air, reminding him of the good times he'd had with Liz, instead of all the bad things for once. "So I can just stroll right on in and recognize you?"

"Yep, just look for the tiny brunette wearing antennas and fighting off alien obsessed tourists."

Liz's eyes twinkled beautifully at him, lifting his spirit more than anything else could've done, and before he knew it, Max had leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss on her soft lips. She looked slightly dazed when he pulled back a few seconds later. "When I do decide to talk about everything, I'll definitely seek you out."

When Liz still didn't lose her glazed look, Max smiled smugly, feeling younger than he'd felt in years and started making his way back to the campsite. He'd only walked a few steps when he felt Liz's hand grab his and weave her smaller fingers in with his like it belonged there.

Which, Max surmised, practically beaming as they came out into the clearing to the others, isn't that far from the truth now that I think about it.

Kyle's POV

The chatter around him was grating on his last nerves. Kyle took a sip of his water, knowing that a headache could be lessened by drinking plenty of fluids.

Ever since he'd woken up, Kyle had been assaulted by painful jabs in his skull and he was getting pretty sick of it. It was stealing all of his energy; he didn't even have the energy to scowl at Max Evans as he helped him out with his tent. But then again, Kyle amended only to himself, none of my friends are here so I don't have to act like a complete asshole, which is good 'cause I seriously doubt I have the strength to do it in the first place.

All of them had hiked around a bit during the day, playing some games that the organizers of the camping event had planned and now they were all just sitting around and relaxing before going to their tents to sleep.

Smiling wryly at his somewhat sour mood, Kyle let his eyes wander around the campfire. His dad was playing cards with Mr. Parker and Mr. Whitman and some other dads that he didn't really know by name. Michael Guerin was sitting next to Max Evans and the two guys' eyes were locked on Maria and Liz, who were deeply involved in some kind of girly talk that Kyle wasn't the least bit interested in listening in on.

Alex suddenly walked by him, looking like he was feeling just as bad as Kyle was. The young jock watched the tall teen disappear quietly when Isabel suddenly blocked his view of everything. It looked like she'd been following Alex, but apparently Kyle looked worse off, because she unceremoniously planted a hand on his forehead and asked if he was feeling okay.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," Kyle muttered and withdrew his face from her touch. Surprisingly enough, it looked as if his abrupt movement had hurt her feelings, but Kyle was simply too exhausted to care much at the moment. Instead, he resumed his looking around and once more, his eyes landed on Liz. His heart gave a small lurch at the sight of her and he sighed, knowing that she would never see him as anything other than her friend, Kyle. It didn't hurt as much as it used to, but he'd never really like it.

"Kyle, you should go lie down, you don't look so good," Isabel hadn't left yet, so Kyle looked up at her with a frown.

"You should go after the geek; he seems worse off than me."

"Alex isn't a geek," Isabel immediately defended the no longer present boy and Kyle smirked.

"Whatever, Isabel. I'm gonna go play some cards with my old man, so don't worry about me. Bye," and with that, Kyle simply stood up and walked over to his father. Again, he ignored that part of him that seemed to almost quail at the idea of speaking so harshly to Isabel, and sat down to join the card game.

It's not like we're even friends, he told himself, massaging his temples as the throbbing suddenly increased momentarily. We just hang in the same crowd and that's it…

He played a few rounds, losing spectacularly, before he excused himself to go to bed. His headache hadn't disappeared at all, and all he really wanted was some sleep.

It only took him a few minutes to get ready for bed and as soon as his head hit his small travel pillow, Kyle was dead to the world.

0o0o0

It was a combination of his father's deep snore and a spike of pain that woke him up some time later. Kyle tried his best to overcome the aches in his head, but it was a battle he was doomed to lose.

After a few minutes of restless shifting around and muted groans, Kyle decided that some fresh air would do him some good. He slipped out of the tent as soundlessly as he could and started trotting deeper into the woods where he could make as much noise as he wanted to without waking anyone up.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle spotted Liz's lithe form as she returned from what was no doubt a bathroom break, and he hurried into the shadows to avoid being seen.

The fast movements cost him and Kyle bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed, as he tried to keep the pained moan from escaping as he watched Liz walk away from him. A small part of him worried that he was really hurt and that his plan for solace might not be the best idea he ever had, but he overrode it and continued on for about half a mile, before the pain suddenly changed.

The pounding in his head was building, the pain was crushing him from the inside, making him worry briefly if his eyes would pop out of his head before the pure agony distracted his thought process with a vengeful flash of pain.

Images of things that he didn't understand started pouring through his aching mind, and he finally stopped struggling for balance and landed on his knees in the soft grass with a groan of despair.

In the distance he could hear voices calling his name, with increasing desperation, but he couldn't process it enough to actually alert them to his presence.

A more insistent voice that sounded suspiciously like his own came through louder than anything else, "Damn human of him. Of course, he's the reason I got shot in the first place, but what the hell. No conditions are permanent. No conditions are reliable. Nothing is self…Look, what's going on here is really scary. If I don't lighten the mood, I might loose it…Oh, I've got no symptoms yet. You know, Max healed me a year after he healed you… We took you into our home, Tess. We protected you. And how did you repay us? You brainwashed me into carrying Alex's dead body! ... "We're surrounded! You have to leave me here…"… "I just died for you Woman, what else can I do?"

"Aargh!" Kyle's hands were in his hair, tearing out the strains painfully, trying to absorb everything, but it was too much, too many things just kept coming and finally everything turned into blissful darkness where no pain could follow him.

Isabel's POV

Isabel was supposed to share her tent with her dad, but after the exhausting, and unsatisfying day that she'd just had; Isabel felt like she needed to spend time with her brother, so she when she couldn't fall asleep, she woke up her dad and quickly convinced the groggy man to let her spend the night in Max and Michael's tent, reminding him that Michael was more of a brother to her than anything else.

Maybe he could see how much I just want to talk to Max, Isabel wondered as she silently made her way to her brother's tent. A few seconds later, she stuck her head into the tent and wasn't surprised at all when both Max and Michael were sitting up and looking at her alertly. None of us has quite learned to sleep peacefully yet, Isabel thought with an inwardly sigh.

"Can I sleep-" she started to say, but Michael nodded and Max moved to the side, making room for her. She thanked them and slipped inside. She hadn't brought her sleeping bag, but one quick swipe over Max's discarded sweater transformed it into a new one and she wiggled her way into it with a small sigh.

After a few beats of comfortable silence, Isabel looked over at her brother. "I could feel that you almost lost your control today; is everything okay?"

Max nodded with an almost ashamed smile on his face that turned serious once he took in the defeated look in her eyes. "Did he come around at all?" he asked quietly and Michael leaned closer, no doubt eager for her answer.

"I don't know. Maybe. I kept up the dumb blonde routine for a while, but he didn't seem to like that part of me any better than the alien one." Isabel felt Michael's hand on her back, offering her his support and she continued, "He actually got mad at me a little, saying that I didn't need to pretend around him and stalked off. When I found him a little later, he just asked me to give him some time to process everything and that he still cared about me. So, honestly, guys; I don't know what to think right now."

"I don't think you have anything to worry about," Michael was the first to speak after a few moments of heavy silence. "That dude's been crazy about you since grade school and no amount of," here the normally so stoic hybrid actually snorted, "Czechoslovakian" involvement will be able to keep him away."

Isabel smiled in the dark, hoping with everything in her that he was right. Suddenly, Max tensed next to her and that unavoidably made her and Michael equally as watchful.

The tent was quickly lit up with a little help from Isabel, who quickly vacated her sleeping bag; next to her Michael was clenching his fists ominously and Max's face was halfway through his transformation to that dark part of him that none of them liked.

Then, a second later, Isabel felt him relax minutely and he whispered Liz's name and they sighed in relief. It was a short lived relief though, because Liz fumbled with the zipper a few times and cursed, like she was feeling scared, before she managed to stick her head inside of the tent.

Unlike Isabel it clearly surprised her that they were all awake and waiting. "Oh, uhm. Hi, sorry to interrupt but…" she trailed off hesitantly and bit her lip.

Isabel felt Max's hand on her arm and heard his mental voice in her head, 'she's worried about something; I can feel her fear.'

How Isabel had missed that was beyond her, the worry lines on Liz's face stood out especially in the artificial light that Isabel was still subconsciously maintaining. "What's wrong, Liz?" she asked when it didn't seem like the brunette intended to reveal just what she was doing there in the middle of the night.

Isabel was glad to see that despite all the roadblocks that Max and Liz's relationship had suffered since coming back in time, Liz's big doe eyes were firmly locked with Max's, as though she drew some kind of silent strength just from his very presence.

Liz bit her lips and finally answered Isabel's question after a second more of staring at Max. "I-I don't know if I'm overreacting or just seeing things, but…" Liz stopped for a second and then spoke again, making Isabel's insides twist in fear that no doubt matched that of the boys next to her. "I think something's wrong with Kyle."

What happened next could only be described as an explosion of activity.

The trio of time traveling hybrids flew out of the tent; Max calmed Liz and somehow managed to get her to return to her own tent, it was probably made easier due to the fact that Liz clearly wasn't feeling all that well. Michael started tracking Kyle through the forest, using every bit of practice that he'd gotten from their last life. Max walked beside him and was busy plucking leaves from trees and transforming them into bandages, prepared for anything. And Isabel walked right behind them, covering their backs. It was an old habit from their time in the war, but right now neither of them was interested in breaking it. Their only concern was finding Kyle.

As they half walked and half ran through the forest, calling out their human friend's name, Isabel's mind was conjuring all kinds of horrifying things and she feared what they'd find. Please don't let anything happen to him, she prayed silently, looking around frantically, but thoroughly. I can't bear to lose my best friend again; once was more than enough!

"There!" Max's voice rang out clearly in the night half an hour later, and Isabel immediately ran in the direction he was pointing, safety precautions be damned.

The sight of Kyle's immobile body lying on the ground brought back memories that the Princess hybrid had hoped fervently never to relive. Before she knew it, she was on the ground next to him, reaching out a shaking hand to his unmoving body.

"K-Kyle?" his name was whispered almost inaudibly, but he didn't respond. Isabel felt her brother and Michael arrive, kneeling down around Kyle.

"What happened?" Michael's voice was gruff and one quick look, told Isabel that he was scanning the perimeters alertly, making sure, however improbable, that Kyle hadn't been attacked.

"He's still warm, his pulse is a bit fast, but normal otherwise," Max answered, quickly making all their hearts calm down a little. "I think he's just passed out for some reason…Maybe he just, I don't know sleepwalked out here? He's been very quiet tonight."

Isabel and Michael gave Max a shared look of disbelief and Isabel was about to say something not too nice, when Kyle spoke up and changed everything she thought she knew.

"Yeah, well, maybe, you're an idiot, Max." Sitting up, the teen continued, looking them over with a weird glint in his eyes that was borderline befuddlement. "And what the hell just happened? Did some of Khivar's boys learn to mindwarp, because from where I'm sitting, you're all looking very young all of the sudden…?"

TBC…


	18. Michael, Alex, Max, Liz and Max

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Michael's POV

Floored couldn't even begin to describe the sensation flowing through Michael's body. For the first time since he could remember, all of Michael's attention was on the person in front of him and not halfway reached out to the surroundings to check for intruders.

"Whoa," the exclamation left his lips after the silence had stretched on a little too long and no one had spoken yet. Kyle's narrowed eyes left the frozen Isabel with clear reluctance and they trailed over to meet Michael's.

"'Whoa' is definitely the right word here," Kyle agreed, flexing his muscles, "I better be dreaming. I better be dreaming that you all look like teenagers. Someone tell me that I'm fucking dreaming; this is too bizarre, even for us."

Kyle got to his feet, when no one answered him, and then his next words sent a rush of sympathy through Michael, "This is not what I thought happened after one's death. Buddhism isn't supposed to go like this; it doesn't send you back to your old crappy life!"

"You know that-" Isabel's voice cracked and Michael watched sadly as Max quickly walked over and placed an arm around her shoulders, lending her some of his silent strength.

Kyle bit his lip for a second, looking a little guilty all of the sudden, before he sighed and finished Isabel's question. "Do I know that I died? Yeah, actually I do. It's becoming clearer by the second what happened. Every last bit, and I wish I didn't remember anything. Now, please tell me that I'm just lying on that floor, completely blown to pieces by my own doing and imagining this as I travel to better places or my next life or whatever. This is just too much for me right now."

"Somehow," Max's voice was both full of genuine sadness and delight at the same time and Michael couldn't blame him, because he felt exactly the same way. "You're back in your own body the year you turned sixteen. Like us."

"What do you mean?" Kyle stood straighter, adopting the pose of a much older individual; it briefly made Michael wonder if this was what the other humans in their lives saw whenever Michael and the others' mask slipped occasionally. If so, it's no wonder they're all a lot more questioning around us this time around; it doesn't look natural…

"I mean," Max sighed, getting Michael back to the present with a small internal jolt, "that we traveled back in time, ending up in our own bodies at the time and well…" Max's smiled a bit apologetically, "it's all really technical and only Serena and Liz ever really got the full grasp of things concerning the Granolith."

Michael immediately wanted to slap Max, when Kyle's face turned pale and he apparently seemed to realize for the first time just what being in the past meant for him. "L-Liz? Serena? Are they here too?"

"We're currently sixteen, so Serena's not, but the rest of them are there." Isabel answered softly, her teary eyes never leaving Kyle's.

Kyle stood immobile for a long second, before Michael finally decided to actually speak as well. "We're in Frazier Woods right now – Your dad's here too. Still think it's bad to be back in your crappy old life?"

If Michael hadn't already been through hell, and a marriage to a dramatic Maria, the glare Kyle sent his way would've probably made him wilt, but instead, Michael simply smirked and pointed behind him. "He's there with the other fathers and Liz, Maria, and Alex."

Kyle gasped and sat down on the ground with a bump; his face clearly told all of them that he was at his limit. "I can't even remember the last time I actually thought about Alex," he whispered, after a long silence.

Michael knew what he meant, their lives had changed so drastically after they'd escaped during their graduation and when death, torture and plain desperation had slowly taken over their lives, the death of their first human friend and ally had just been one of many fatalities.

"It's weird at first," Michael said, when once again no one seemed to know what to say, "but I promise you that it's not a bad thing to be back here. We'll go back later, but first, I hate to be the one to ruin the mood, but, we need to come up with some damn good reasons for your change; the way you are now is nothing like the kid that came to this forest today."

Max nodded, and Kyle grabbed a firm hold of the hand that Michael reached down to him and let himself be pulled back to his feet.

Isabel wasn't moving with them and it was only then that Michael noticed that the air around her simmered with a pungent heat and he bit back a curse. It was no secret that Max was the strongest one of them all, but Isabel's powers were not without dangers, and she, like the rest of them, had a tendency to lose control of things once her emotions became too volatile. And judging from the way Isabel's brown eyes remained fixated on Kyle, and the almost invisible quiver of her lower lip, she was understandably very emotional.

Michael could see the moment Kyle realized what was going on, because he stopped moving and stared right back at her, no doubt remembering the times that any one of them had lost their precious control, "Iz," he started to say softly before Max took a step towards Isabel, muttering repeatedly for her to breathe deeply.

Michael could feel the oppressing force emanating from Isabel and walked over to stand protectively in front of the now panting Kyle, ready to jump into action if need be, because he just knew that Kyle's own powers hadn't travelled with him, or else he'd have used them by now.

Only Michael never got a chance to do much of anything before they all heard rapid footsteps approaching and suddenly a lone figure very inelegantly tumbled out into the small, moonlit clearing and this time Michael couldn't stop himself from muttering a harsh expletive.

Alex's POV

Alex wasn't able to sleep. He tossed and turned several times, trying to get more comfortable, but no matter how he tried, his sleep eluded him. It didn't particularly help matters that his father was snoring so loud that Alex briefly wondered if the tiny tent's structure could handle the vibrations.

With a heavy sigh, Alex sat up, running a hand through his ruffled hair. It had been some very weird couple of days and his entire worldview had shifted right along with it all. Alex bit his lip when, not for the first time, his almost photographic memory brought up Isabel's beautiful face twisted with hate and murderous intent. As always, when the memory popped up, Alex quickly attempted to think of something else before it could proceed on to the thing that really scared him.

The pain from Isabel's blow had been excruciating, the feeling of his own warm blood gushing out of him, still made him break out into cold sweats. He'd felt an odd chill creep through his bones and his sight had dimmed quickly as he struggled for air that just wouldn't come. He'd heard noises around him, but he simply had no strength left to open his eyes. Then Max Evans' deep voice had insisted that he do just that and after that things had gotten even crazier.

Alex shook his head, attempting to shed the memory like a snake shed its skin. I can't keep doing this to myself, he thought, there's things going on beneath the surface that I have no part in; Michael said so himself. I know logically that Isabel never meant to hurt me, I know that, but whenever she's around me, I can't stop remembering the way she looked just before her powers struck me down…

Sighing once more, Alex finally decided to go outside for a bit of fresh air. He grabbed his new parka, slipped it on and quietly exited the tent, although he knew from past experience that nothing short of a natural disaster would wake his dad.

The starry night cast a beautiful glow over the clearing that was filled with other tents. Aside from various snoring, it was quiet. Almost eerily so and Alex shrugged off the peculiar feeling running through him. He'd been walking a few minutes in the edge of the clearing, making sure not to wander too much, because he knew very well what kind of sense of direction he possessed, when something happened.

In a flash, Alex was bowled over, gagging harshly into the cold ground, gripping lumps of grass frantically in his clenched hands. It felt as though waves upon waves of foreign emotions rammed into him with a crushing blow that had him in its grip as if he was nothing more than a tiny leaf flowing in the air in the middle of a storm.

Fear, anger, guilt, love, crushing hope and overwhelming despair were the ones that Alex felt the most and as he lay gasping, he tried to remember what Liz and Maria had said about the bond between them and their non human friends.

As was the norm, Liz had been the calm one as she tried to explain the situation, while Maria had stood next to her, twisting her hands and muttering briefly about getting some oil to relax them all. "I can safely say, Alex," Liz had begun without preamble, "that I completely understand your unwillingness to accept what is happening inside of you. I had very big difficulties with the whole connection to another person just sprouting into life from one day to the next. What you have to remember is that it's not just a one-way street. What you feel, she feels and it can be tremendously soothing."

Maria had nodded and then said when Alex's face had remained dubious, "Believe it or not, I'm actually not freaked about the bond I now share with Spa…Michael. In fact, I think it's nice to know that there's someone out there able to connect with me like that. Okay," Maria had smiled briefly, sharing a knowing glance with Liz before continuing, "I'll admit, I wasn't that good at handling it initially, but, now that I'm used to it, I don't think I could just cut it off, like Liz did."

"Wait, what?" Alex's insides had filled with cautious hope at the thought of perhaps killing the link that he somehow had with the girl that had almost killed him.

Liz had sent Maria a withering glare, before taking a deep breath and piercing Alex with her big russet eyes; it had been clear as day that was she was about to say was very serious.

"I will not recommend it; in fact, I'll even beg you to not ever consider it. Trust me in nothing else but this, it is not the right solution. I reacted poorly and I was stupid and self-centered when I made that call and it nearly broke me when I found out how much my refusal had hurt Max. I understand your reservations like no other, but please, don't even suggest that she close the bond between the two of you. It'll only be that much more horrible when you inevitably re-open it. I know, Alex. I also know that she'll do it to make you happy, no matter how much it'll cost her in the end. Just…" Liz had looked almost desperate as she attempted to make him understand. "Just try and breathe deeply and send calm back if things ever get to be too much for you; that's the best way for both of you, I swear."

The memory of his two best friends' quiet intensity about the mental connection between him and Isabel ran through Alex's confused mind in a split second and he tried to do as Liz had suggested; growing more and more desperate to alleviate some of the paralyzing emotions running through him without his own free will.

Breathe in, Alex thought and drew in a shaky breath, while trying to think about happier times. Unbidden, the memory of that night where an obviously shaken Isabel had showed up on his doorstep, came to him, and Alex exhaled deeply, recalling with a portion of his mind how concerned he'd been for her and how much he'd wanted to help her.

When he let himself focus on that memory of having Isabel in his arms, clinging to him like he was her lifeline, Alex finally started to lose a little bit of his fear and as that happened, he could feel how his growing calm oozed out of him and as a result the viciously pouring emotions from Isabel dimmed just a bit and slowly transformed into something else; something a little more healthy to his system.

'This can't be happening…Oh my God!'

The words seeped into Alex's mind, like a broken whisper and he recognized it as being Isabel's voice. But never had he heard so much agony in anyone's voice, and it was in that moment that all of his fears and doubts evaporated and Alex wanted nothing more than locate Isabel and help her. Because there was no doubt in his mind, Isabel needed him.

Before he was even aware of it, Alex was up and on the move. Running through the darkened forest with only the barest of moonlight to guide him, the lanky teen never once stopped to wonder how it was that he never hesitated in the dark, how it was possible that he knew without a shadow of a doubt just where Isabel was.

Finally, Alex could see movement ahead and only a few seconds later, he came to an abrupt stop, completely confused at what he was seeing.

Michael was standing in front of a panting Kyle, who looked ill and nauseous, while Max was trying to get Isabel to breathe, her coffee eyes widened almost comically as they stared intensely at Kyle.

"What's going on here?" Alex asked, keeping Isabel within his eyesight the whole time; he had a sudden urge to grab her and just walk away until she once again resembled the girl that had tried so hard to get under his skin during the bus ride to the forest.

The reaction to his unexpected arrival was imminent. If Kyle had looked ill before, it paled in comparison to how his entire face turned pale at the sight of him standing there. Michael and Max looked nothing short of frantic, a look that Alex had never seen before on either of the notoriously stoic guys. Isabel didn't seem to notice his arrival at all, her eyes still fixated on Kyle.

"A-Alex?" Kyle's voice seemed off somehow, but Alex didn't care too much about the jock at the moment; instead he was quickly being overwhelmed by the flood of emotions running out of Isabel and into him. She was so heartbroken and yet indisputably happy and confused at the same time that it nearly knocked him off his feet.

"I-Isabel," Alex whispered her name, feeling like the air was being squeezed out of him for some reason. The blonde didn't react, still too engrossed in Kyle, whose eyes were now locked on Alex's face. It was making the lanky teenager very uncomfortable.

"Isabel!" He raised his voice a little and finally got a reaction out of her. Her entire body shuddered and her face turned a fraction in his direction. It wasn't much, but it was something and Alex walked closer, ignoring Michael's quiet cursing and Max's warning to stay back.

"Look at me, Isabel. You're freaking me out here. I just barely got over my stupid fears, so I'm not really keen on letting you pour fresh panic into me now. Come on, Isabel, look at me."

'I'm so sorry, but I just can't believe this is happening to me' Once again, Isabel's voice sounded crystal clear inside Alex's head and he couldn't quite stop himself from flinching.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," he muttered, deciding rightfully so that whatever was going on was something alien related that he was better off not knowing the details. All he cared about at that point in time was getting Isabel over whatever it was that was affecting her so much. He had this weird feeling that he just might be the only one that could help her right now.

"Just breathe deeply and stop staring at Kyle so much." Alex forced a smile on his face, trying to lighten the mood, "I mean, I thought I was the guy you sort of liked, right?"

'I love you Alex, I wish you'd know that without any doubts' Isabel was still looking at the pale Kyle, as the words drifted into the teen's mind and he swallowed harshly. Suddenly, Alex's concern melted into a flare of happiness that he somehow sent back through the link he shared with the gorgeous girl.

With a start, Isabel finally broke the stare she had leveled on Kyle, only to fix her dark brown eyes on Alex. The teen straightened up, trying to hide his apprehension when Isabel suddenly launched herself at him, throwing her arms around him and planting her face in the nook of his neck.

Too distracted with the six foot woman in his arms, Alex barely noticed the odd pressure in the air return to normal. The woodland creatures came out of their hiding places and once again started making their nocturnal sounds, enveloping the four people in a much more peaceful quiet.

The moment was surprisingly serene and Alex couldn't help but hate himself a little for actually having feared the shivering female, who was latching on to him like he was her only hope of survival. I won't ever let this freak me out again, Alex promised himself inwardly, scary or not, Isabel is this wonderful person that I've been in love with since she showed up in school so many years ago…

Isabel started a bit in his arms, and briefly, Alex feared that he'd spoken out loud, but then he heard her melodic voice in his head again, and this time he didn't feel afraid at all, 'I didn't know you'd cared about me for so long…So many years wasted…'

"It's okay," Alex whispered in Isabel's ear, not quite sure about his newfound ability to read and send thoughts to her, "you know now."

He could feel her smile at his neck, her warm breaths tickling his skin. "Yeah," she muttered back, "I do."

Alex had no clue how long he stood in the clearing with Isabel, but eventually, his eyes left her to travel towards the other guys, who hadn't said a word since Isabel had turned to him so fervently.

"Uhm, so should we go back to camp?" Alex looked over at her brother. Max was standing immobile next to Kyle, his eyes shifting between the amazingly still pale jock, to Isabel and him before quickly scanning the environment like he was keeping watch. It's like he's making sure we're not being surrounded for some reason, Alex realized, frowning a little to himself as his perceptive nature returned to him a bit from the wonderland, Isabel's confession had sent it into.

It was Michael, who answered his question a few moments later. "Probably should. Don't want the sheriff to wake up and find out his only kid's missing, do we?"

At the mention of Sheriff Valenti, Kyle reacted visibly with a flinch and his eyes widened impossibly. Are that tears in his eyes? Alex's mild frown turned deeper, but Isabel's grip tightened and retook his attention.

She spoke, her voice a bit muffled from its' secure place by Alex's neck. "I'll go with Alex in a few minutes. You go ahead. We'll talk soon, okay? About...About everything right, K-Kyle?" her voice faltering at the other human's name.

Kyle nodded his agreement and Michael took him by the arm to lead him back towards the campsite; he sent a quick, almost grateful look at Alex before swiftly leaving. At first, Max hesitated momentarily, but then sighed and disappeared silently as well.

Alex took a deep breath and tried to end the hug, but Isabel merely gripped on to him even tighter and whispered, her voice sounding a little desperate, "Not yet, Alex. Please. I just wanna stand here a little bit longer…"

Copying himself from an evening not too long ago, Alex placed his arms around the girl he was now sure he loved and said firmly, echoing the words from that night again, "It's okay; I'll just stand here with you for as long as you need it, Isabel. Take all the time you want, I'm not going anywhere."

The small sigh of relief that Alex felt from her, told him that he'd finally done the right thing and he smiled softly into her hair. I won't let you down again Isabel. I swear…

Max's POV

A couple of days later, Max entered the school and expertly ignored the stares he knew was being sent his way. The reason for the stares was the teenager walking next to him, looking for all the world like he didn't give a crap about anything.

"I can't believe they're so bent outta shape about us hanging together," Kyle's voice was faintly amused and Max swallowed a smirk of his own, knowing just how he felt. "I mean, we hung out before in the other life of ours, admittedly it was over a longer adjustment period, but still. Us being friends shouldn't be such a shock to them."

"I think it's more the fact that you have completely ignored your other friends ever since Frazier Woods," Max said calmly, reaching his locker and started opening it. He knew it looked weird to anyone not in the know about what was going on.

The popular jock, Kyle Valenti suddenly attaching himself to the school's most reserved guy, Max Evans and shunning his former in-crowd of friends. It must have looked severely odd. But Max honestly didn't care. I'm just happy that I've got my old friend back, he thought, grabbing his books and shutting the locker again.

While Michael would always be his brother in all but blood, Max had found a very close friend in Kyle over the years and without saying it out loud, he knew that Kyle felt the same way about him. Or why else did he come to me that time with Isabel? Max asked himself as memories of the past assaulted him. With a tired sigh, Max shut the door in his mind that was eager to open and shove his past into the forefront of his mind.

"So, are you planning on sleeping at your own house tonight?"

Kyle's face turned grim and he glanced away. "Err, nah, you know. We've still got so much to talk about and I need to catch up to everything. Hell, I still need to beat my urges to not choke Tess whenever I see her."

Max nodded mutely, remembering exactly how much Tess' reappearance in their lives had shocked the somehow time jumping human; how much everything had shocked him.

When they'd all reached the campsite, Michael had pointed out the tent Kyle shared with his dad. Max's heart had ached with pity when Kyle's scared eyes had found his, trying to understand that his father wasn't dead anymore. That he was back in a time where the sheriff was suspicious and where the relationship they had was a mere shadow of the one they'd had in the original timeline.

Max had walked over to his shivering friend and started to say something comforting, only to stop when the sheriff suddenly started rustling and had opened the zipper in the tent and looked out at them with a distrustful glint in his steely eyes.

"Hi Boys," he'd greeted and Max had felt the jolt that went through Kyle's body as keenly as it had been his own at the sight of his currently living father. "It's a bit too late for a midnight stroll, ain't it?"

Within moments, Kyle had been told to go to bed and the tent firmly reclosed. Max had walked over to the silently waiting Michael with a mixed feeling. On one hand, his heart was both heavy at the new set of problems that would arise, but on the other hand, he could barely recall a time when he'd been so thrilled. Despite the problems it'd no doubt cause, his friend was back.

"How do we tell him about Tess?" Michael had asked bluntly when Max finally reached him. "He's bound to try and kill her before she gets a word in and he realizes that she's not the Tess we dealt with already."

Max had been about to say that he would tell him on the bus when the camping trip was over the next day, and there was so much other noise that Kyle's undoubtedly numerous curses would be easier to overhear, when he heard one such distinctive expletive coming from Kyle and his dad's tent.

Max had spun around, muscles tensing and his fingers already clenched for anything and out of the corner of his eyes, he'd seen Michael adopt his own instinctive battle stance. But seconds later, they had both straightened up to seem more natural when many of the other campers put their sleep ruffled heads out of their tents to witness a now furious Kyle Valenti stomp out of his tent and towards a completely surprised duo of time travelling hybrids.

"He's being an ass," Kyle had hissed, crossing his arms and sending one of the deadliest glares in his arsenal towards the curious onlookers. "Weren't you all supposed to be sleeping?" he'd roared unapologetically before turning back to Max and Michael.

"Evans, I'm crashing at your place the next few days – now go make me a sleeping bag, it's fucking freezing out here."

It was the sound of the bell that brought Max back to the present and he looked over at Kyle, who was watching him with a small smile on his lips. "What?"

"Just nice to see that some things don't change; you're still not much of a talker, you know." Kyle teased and followed Max inside the classroom where they were about to have Spanish.

"I talk," Max defended and sat down in his usual seat where he knew he could survey the entire room and still have easy access to at least two escape routes. Some habits are very hard to kill, Max thought ruefully, silently watching as Kyle unceremoniously took the seat next to him, completely ignoring the huffing girl that had just been about to sit there.

"Oh yeah, you're a regular chatter box," Kyle grinned, before he looked around the room and his expression turned blank. Max didn't have to look to know that he'd caught sight of Tess, who was also in this class.

Trying to distract his friend, Max spoke a little louder than was his norm. "I was just thinking about the Convention…It's just like I remembered it, crazy and busy. Wanna lend a hand? You know, this way you could pay me back for letting you crash at my place?"

His tactic worked, and Max swallowed a victorious smile when Kyle looked over at him with raised brows. "The only reason I'm even a little comfortable is 'cause Iz used that special skill that you're too lazy to use for me and made me a decent sleeping spot. Your floor and a sleeping bag is not my idea of comfort."

"Michael never complained," Max pointed out; loving the banter that he'd barely known he'd missed so much.

Kyle snorted and pointed out that Michael was a special case just before the teacher came in and class began.

0o0o0

A few hours later, Max was basically dragging Kyle with him over to the UFO Centre where his alien obsessed boss was running around frantically, weaving in and out of the crowd. His beady eyes lit up with profound relief when he caught sight of him and Max repressed the sudden urge to flee. I lived through this once, he reminded himself firmly, and I've lived through a lot worse than this. Just take it easy.

"EVANS!" Milton's voice rose loudly above the others' and Max cringed inwardly. He discreetly sent a glare at Kyle, who was snickering. For the first time since Kyle's return so to speak, the human didn't look burdened. But then again, Max thought, he never knew Milton and has no ties whatsoever to this place like I do. Lucky him…

"There you are," Milton sounded a little out of breath when he caught up the them, his eyes scanning Kyle briefly before turning towards Max with a seldom seen desperation in his eyes. "I'm getting overrun here. I need you to pitch in. And if your friend here is a true believer like us, he's more than welcome to join in the festivities."

Both Max and his fidgeting boss could hear Kyle's muttered, "I'm a true believer, alright," but Max didn't warn him about Milton's obsessive personality. Fifteen minutes later, Kyle was sent outside wearing a green alien suit that Max was more than happy to never enter again, to hand out flyers and Max was saddled with the responsibility that was the ego of one Jonathan Frakes.

Max had just finished making sure the actor was at least somewhat content with his accommodations and he had reluctantly started his shift in the dreaded information booth, when he suddenly felt a spike of pure fear impale him and the bottle of water that he'd planted on a small table in the booth exploded soundlessly, splashing his pants with water.

Max didn't care, he barely even noticed his powers acting out in response to what was happening inside of him, all that the once upon a time King could process was that Liz was scared. Within seconds, he was outside of the UFO Centre and in route to the Crashdown Café where he knew Liz was working her after school shift.

Moments that felt like forever passed as Max ran faster than he could remember to get to Liz's side. His imagination thinking up gruesome scenarios; Khivar had somehow followed them to the past, the Skins had arrived despite their efforts to lay low, Pierce was in the diner, hell he even imagined that yet another shooter was back to finish the job of killing the woman he loved.

I can't lose you again, Liz, Max thought as he finally reached his destination, I will do anything…

Liz's POV

"Gosh, I hate this time a year," Liz muttered, weaving through a bustle of customers to get to the kitchen where José was screaming for her to pick up her latest finished order.

She nearly bumped into Isabel, who was looking annoyingly immaculate as ever, while Liz knew she probably looked like something had spit her back out after chewing on her a bit. Plus, she was sweating in the blistering heat. The air-condition was broken, and although Isabel had promised to look at it, there simply were too many people around for her to do it without getting noticed.

"Watch it!" one such would be witness sneered irritably when Liz stepped on his foot to avoid bumping into Isabel and thus getting soaked in the platter of sodas that the tall blonde was carrying.

"Sorry, sorry," Liz mumbled, hoping that Isabel hadn't heard the guy's comment, because for some reason, the beautiful Czechoslovakian was almost as protective of her as Maria was. And to add to it, Liz knew that Isabel had been going through some kind of hard time lately; her eyes were always shadowed with some dark emotion that only Alex seemed to be able to dim a little.

Fortunately, Isabel was already in the middle of delivering her beverages so Liz didn't foresee any more problems and heaved a relieved sigh as she finally picked up her finished order.

Maria cut in front of her, wiping a beat of sweat of her glistening forehead with a towel she carried for such purposes. "How is it that I always get roped into this stupid shift every year?" Maria complained, taking a brief break as she waited for José's helper to finish her order.

Liz smiled when her dad, who just happened to be walking by with a new order, commented with a grin, "'cause you love us and we supply you with the means for your addiction for certain clothing."

Liz let the familiar sounds of her dad and Maria's friendly jibes flow over her, and she quickly made her way to her waiting table with the hot food.

Just as she finished putting down the plates, a fresh batch of customers started strolling in and Liz looked over to do the habitual headcount when her heart stopped.

"Oh no," the words left her lips without her really realizing it; her heart had begun pounding with the speed of a startled rabbit. She must have looked completely freaked out because it didn't take long before Maria and Isabel abandoned their customers and came rushing to her side.

"What's wrong Liz?" Maria asked, putting her hand on Liz's forehead as if to check for a fever. "Are you gonna throw up? Are you stressed, I have some scented oil for that in my bag in the backroom if you want some."

While Maria went into motherhenning mode, Liz saw Isabel scan the diner for threats, evidently having read her expression as the fear it really was. The second Isabel spotted the reason for Liz's mild public freak-out; her taller frame froze as well.

Maria, who was completely oblivious, disappeared to get the oil and placate a now hoarsely screaming José. Isabel immediately turned towards Liz with a blank expression on her face and asked, "Aren't they the two tourists that were here the day of the shooting."

"Yeah," Liz nodded and tried getting her fright under control; she could feel it being tripled the second Max felt her fears and she knew he was thinking the worst. "Um, I'll go get their orders. They're probably just here for the Convention and got hungry. Right?"

Isabel didn't answer, but her dire look didn't do much to sooth the nervous brunette. Liz had just handed the staring pair a set of menus with a smile that was admittedly brittle when the doors to the Crashdown were slammed open from the outside and Max all but stumbled inside.

The crowded diner stilled and watched curiously as the tall guy quickly regained his balance and started looking for and found Liz. She could feel his crushing relief at finding her psychically fine and then his own startle rush through her when he too recognized the nosy duo.

"Isn't that the guy that helped you that day?" The stocky guy, Liz remembered to be Larry asked. His eyes never blinking as he stared from her to Max and back at her, it was obvious he had no intention to leave right away.

"Hi, I'm Isabel and I'll be your waitress until Liz gets back from her much needed break," Isabel smiled flirtatiously down at the now gobsmacked looking Larry, "I hope that'll be okay with you? We're kinda busy these days."

Liz smiled and gestured for Max to follow her into the back. The second the door closed behind them, Max took her in his arms and all of Liz's fears mysteriously floated away into nothingness. As long as I'm in his arms, nothing can be that dangerous, she thought with an internal smile and then she grimaced, I just hope he won't think I'm disgusting, I must smell awful right now.

"You smell fine," Max's deep voice startled Liz out of her thoughts and she looked up with wide eyes. "And you look as beautiful as ever. Antenna's are a really good look for you." He smiled; his breathing already back to normal from his run.

"Did you read my mind?" Liz blurted out, feeling pretty sure she hadn't spoken out loud just then. Max smiled again and hugged her closer as he answered her.

"I just know you well, I guess," and Liz put the matter behind her for now, perfectly happy to just enjoy a rare moment with her sort of boyfriend.

It didn't last long before Maria burst in with a small bottle in her hand and a wide eyed look in her eyes. "Liz! There you are! Hi Max, didn't know you were here. Oh, Liz that reminds me; you have no idea who I just saw Isabel talking to!"

Liz reluctantly let go of Max and tried to calm her best friend, who looked just as freaked as she'd been herself only minutes ago. "Larry and Jennifer; the two tourists that were the only one close enough to actually see Max do something to me after the shooting."

"Yeah that about covers what I was about to say," Maria nodded, sniffing deeply from the oil with an ease that came from much practice. "What do we do now? This stupid convention always brings out the crazies and I have this feeling that not even Amidala's looks will deter the guy for long. He looks way too shifty for that."

Max furrowed his brow in bemusement and looked down at Liz. "Amidala?"

"Don't ask," Liz advised him and then she straightened up as a plan came to her. "We're just gonna act normal around them and then, when the convention ends, everything returns to the way it was. Easy as pie."

Maria nodded, putting away the bottled oil in her uniform and Max kissed her cheek. "I've gotta go back; Milton's probably having a coronary without me and Kyle's no doubt ready to kill me for getting roped into helping out. I'll see you later, okay?"

Liz nodded and watched in silence as he slipped out the backdoor; obviously eager to avoid the prying humans sitting out in the diner with Isabel.

"Am I the only one still not really on board with his friendship with Valenti?" Maria's question brought Liz back to the real world and she looked over at her best friend.

"I think we should just stay out of that one for now. Kyle was never a big fan of Max and the others, so having him on our side now is a good thing. At least that's what I think."

"I know," Maria agreed, surprising Liz with the serious look on her face, "but I just worry that they've done some kind of mojo on him or something. I mean, yesterday at school he was practically staring holes in my back and," Maria raised a finger, "he asked for my help in geometry. How the hell does he know I'm good at that? I mean, we've gone to school together all our lives, but we haven't exactly run in the same circles."

Liz shrugged, trying not to remember the weird vibes she too had been getting from her once upon a time fling, "I don't know, Maria. But I guess we run in the same circles now, if Max and he are getting friendly, so maybe Max told him."

Maria was about to speak again, when the door opened, and a frazzled looking Jeff Parker stuck his head through. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're getting swamped out there. More working and less talking, please."

Liz shared a suffering glance with Maria before they both dove out to continue their shifts. And Liz found time in-between serving to fill Isabel in on the plan they'd concocted about acting normal in front of the still staring Larry and now slightly annoyed looking Jennifer.

I can't wait to go to sleep tonight, Liz thought with a yawn before smiling widely at her newest customer, who apparently expected her to read the damn menu for her and have a big debate about whether the Sigourney Weaver Special was in any way less realistic looking than the Will Smith one.

Max's POV

Max was feeling pretty stupid as he returned to the UFO Centre. Kyle had intercepted him on his return and was grumbling about cruel and unusual punishments as they made their way inside.

"I saw you speed through earlier; what's up?" Kyle asked when he finally seemed to be running out of curses.

Max smiled contritely and quickly explained about feeling Liz's distress and about the two tourists. Kyle nodded knowingly; he had had enough experience around the two bonded couples in the other timeline to know what it meant.

"Gotta say, I'm still happy I don't have one of those things myself," he commented and Max smirked, knowing that his friend was lying through his teeth. "I'm my own man, always have been and always will be."

"Sure you are," Max said still smiling a little before turning serious again, "I just wish I could somehow stop things from exploding in our faces all the time. I mean, we're doing our best to make sure things don't go like the last time and then those two show up and threaten everything."

"Well, Evans, let's be happy about one thing at least." Kyle said, slapping Max gently on the shoulder with a cautious look about him. Evidently, he still had trouble remembering that Max's back was no longer a map of aching scars and that he was now free to touch him without risking Max bursting into a scream of pain.

"Oh, what's that?" Max asked and waited for Kyle's reply that came promptly.

"At least it can't get any worse now, right?"

Max winced, knowing just how much those words always tested fate. And sure enough, two things happened at the same time a few seconds later, which proved Kyle wrong. A small, curly haired blonde suddenly appeared in front of them and greeted Kyle with a timid looking smile, while Milton's voice called for Max's attention.

When Max looked over at his boss, he immediately forgot all about Kyle's lack of anger control around Tess. All his attention was on the middle-aged man standing quietly observing, next to Milton.

"Evans, there you are. I've been wanting to introduce you to one of the big boys around here. I mean, he's a real catch for the convention for one thing. This is Everett Hubble, he's an alien hunter. Hubble, this is my go to guy, Max Evans that I told you about."

It took everything in Max to act casual as he reached out a non shaking hand. "Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Hubble."

Hubble's eyes narrowed and he smiled insincerely, as he returned the handshake, "Oh, I assure you, the pleasure is all mine."

TBC…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time On TATT: Max and co. brew up a plan to deal with Hubble that will show just how transformed they really are while simultaniously starting to mend some fences with the ever suspicious Sheriff...


	19. Kyle, Maria, Max and Nasedo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time on TATT: Michael and the others try to come to terms with their timeline's Kyle being back. Alex reconnects with Isabel, realizing that his fears, albeit justified, not that important in the grand scheme of things. Max and Kyle stir up some frenzy when their friendship is made public at school. And at the UFO Convention where Max is working, he's suddenly introduced to a man that he'd hoped never to see again; Hubble, the alien hunter…

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Kyle's POV

It was late in the afternoon and the exhausted trio of time travelling hybrids was sitting in Max's room with an equally as exhausted Kyle.

Max had called for an emergency meeting. Kyle, whose newfound memories meant that he was once more a soldier more than a normal human, was sitting attentively, ready to plan how to proceed with things. But first he had to wait for Max to fill in the other two hybrids about everything.

Michael, who'd spent the day helping a baffled Amy DeLuca with her wrestling hadn't noticed anything unusual going on. Max finally finished telling about Hubble's reappearance and a profound silence fell upon the room.

Isabel was the first one to speak, her voice etched with fatigue, but her eyes shone with a light that Kyle couldn't remember seeing since they were all living in Roswell the first time.

Hell, he thought with an inwardly grimace, I haven't seen her so alive since Alex's death – not even when we…no Valenti, don't go there now. Focus.

Kyle straightened up and waited for Max's answer to Isabel's question about how Hubble had seemed when talking to him face to face.

"It's like I'm trapped in the exact same moment as before," Max replied quietly, his eyes piercing them all with the glint of anxiety they'd only ever seen when his loved ones were being targeted. "He thinks I'm Nasedo and is definitely planning on luring me away like the last time."

"So what do we do?" Isabel asked, leaning forward, obviously eager to end this newest problem in their already complicated lives. Kyle swallowed a small smile, despite everything he still really loved to see her so vivacious; she'd been his best friend for years in spite of everything.

Michael's voice interrupted Kyle's musings, "What do we do? What kind of a lame question is that, Iz? It's obvious that we just need to avoid him and keep a low profile until things blow over. Right Maxwell? Kyle?"

Kyle, who was still not entirely adjusted to his new war free surroundings, shrugged. "I'm not really the person to ask here, Michael; you three call the shots here. I'm pretty much useless without my powers, so I'll follow your lead."

"Don't be ridiculous," Isabel snapped, for the first time looking at him without any semblance of guilt in her eyes, "you're not exactly useless, Kyle. Your combat training is still lodged in your brain, so stop acting like you're not without merits. Now, Max, what do you think we should do?"

It's almost sad, Kyle thought, looking between Isabel and Michael before letting his eves travel to a stone faced Max, they told me that they were trying to do things differently this time around, but whenever things get rough they seem to look to Max for answers. I guess some things can't be changed. I just hope Max won't try to do everything by himself this time. Or else me and Michael might just have to smack him upside down again so he relearns to delegate the responsibilities, I won't have my leader run himself ragged again, it nearly killed him the last time…

This time around, it was Max's voice that brought Kyle out of his head and he frowned, instinctively tensing at the hated cold tone in his friend's voice. "It's simple Isabel; we do what we do best. We kill Hubble."

Immediately, the trio broke out into heated arguments, but Kyle, who was still staying true to his earlier words about following the majority, looked out the window, trying to block out his friends.

Instead, the once dead human fought to stop his mind from sending him images from a life that he now would never get to have. If nothing else, the way he'd reunited with his living father was proof of things going differently.

The thought of his dad, brought a rueful smile to Kyle's lips and he sighed as he remembered how he'd been shaking with the need to hug his dad the moment he'd stuck out his head and forced him to go inside the tent without Max. Of course, Kyle rolled his eyes, that need quickly transformed into a massive urge to punch him in the face when he tried to warn me off of Max and the others.

The continuous pain in his heart wasn't a new feeling to Kyle, but the reason for it was. The way his dad hadn't been the protective father that had died for them all because he loved them, had been shockingly obvious inside the little tent and the unexpected anger that Kyle had felt rush through him because of that had forced him to flee to Max's place until his mind and heart had adjusted to the fact that the man his dad had been in the other timeline was truly dead and gone forever.

Too bad I can't just pound on him until my old dad returns, Kyle wished to himself, immediately feeling guilty about even thinking it in the first place. Jim Valenti was still alive in this timeline and that was not something to be disappointed in. It wasn't…

"Kyle, what do you think?" Michael's voice interrupted Kyle's internal musings and he looked over at his friend with a small start.

The stares he received from the trio would probably have made a lesser man run for the nearest door, but Kyle just shrugged. "I've already given my vote earlier. But for what it's worth, I'm actually agreeing with Max on this one."

Isabel's slightly betrayed look sent a shiver of guilt through Kyle's body, but he ignored it for now and continued, "If I remember correctly, he almost killed Max before, so we all know that he's capable of murder. And Dad used to say that it was the first time he ever realized that he was actively starting to hunt kids, so," Kyle smiled a small smile and added, "if we want to at least attempt to get my dad on our side the same way we did before then letting Max go with Hubble and then kill him first is our best shot."

"No it's not," Isabel replied hotly, her earlier hesitation around him momentarily forgotten, "it's still murder and when we decided to go back, we also promised to not repeat the same mistakes. To try and live normal lives!"

"Well," Michael shrugged, looking as disinterested in the conversation as he always did when he wasn't the one arguing about things, "We're not doing so great, Isabel. Liz still got shot, Topolsky is here and so are Nasedo and Tess."

At the mention of the fourth hybrid's name, Kyle clenched his jaw and turned back to look out of the window, no longer caring what was happening in the discussion.

Tess Harding…The girl that had made him carry Alex's dead body without him knowing it. Deep down inside, Kyle still wondered if he'd have helped her out if she'd just been straight with him, he had loved her that much. It was one of the things that shamed him the most and which he always tried to bury deep inside of him.

And now she was here, looking sweet and innocent and heartbroken. Kyle's memory of earlier that day came back to him as Isabel tried once more to convince her brother that murder wasn't the answer.

Kyle had known from Max's expression that things were about to get dangerous when he'd been introduced to Hubble, but he hadn't cared all that much after Tess had walked up to him wearing a small smile. Her greeting had immediately grated on his nerves and Kyle had had to restrain himself from jumping at her and choke her with his bare hands. For once, he'd been somewhat relieved that his powers hadn't travelled back with him or else they'd all have some serious explaining to do.

"What do you want?" Kyle had managed to choke through his clenched jaw, completely ignoring the flash of hurt that ran over Tess' face.

Was she always such an open book? He'd wondered and waited for her reply.

"I-I haven't talked to you so much lately," she'd said, sounding almost timid and it didn't match the memory of the cold hearted killer that Kyle had of her. For a moment his hate dwindled, but then it returned when she added, "I'm starting to think you're avoiding me. We're supposed to be friends, Kyle."

Her half-teasing smile had quickly evaporated once Kyle had all but sneered coldly, "Yeah, well; friends don't mind rape their friends, do they?"

Tess' already pale skin had turned a deathly pallor and she'd whispered his name in a small, broken voice, just as Michael had come and had grabbed Kyle, muttering something about a meeting and started dragging him towards the nearest exit.

Kyle had more or less been frothing at the mouth and only Michael's understanding look had managed to keep him in line.

And now here we are, talking about killing someone, Kyle smirked inwardly, business as usual.

"Kyle!"

With a start, the supposed high school jock blinked out of his thoughts and met Isabel's brown eyes. He must have shown some of his emotions in his own eyes, because she quickly averted her look and pointed at her fellow hybrids. "They're gonna figure out a way to take Hubble out, but I don't want to know anything. I'll keep trying to live a normal life like we all agreed to."

"Okay," Kyle nodded, sending a look that asked of patience to Max and Michael. "But let me ask you this then Iz; if we let Hubble live then what? Wait for him to take out Max, who he's convinced is Nasedo? Or let his deranged point of views change my father into a coldhearted hunter too? Or, how about this," Kyle held up a finger mockingly, "we bring in the expert on altering people's memories. I bet Tess would just love to help out. You just have to tie me down or knock me out while she's around so I don't accidentally strangle her."

"Since you're so hell bent on keeping things nice and neat." Kyle's voice practically dripped with sarcasm. "I wouldn't expect you to dirty your hands again. We're all back now so let's just see what ends up happening. I mean, if Hubble doesn't wind up killing us; Nasedo is here and if he's here, I'm betting that that scumbag Pierce isn't far behind. And don't even get me started on Tess. But oh no, let's not kill someone that has the potential to bring the F.B.I's attention on us even more. Let's all dig our heads in the sand and pretend everything is just fine and great because you're -!"

"Kyle!"

Kyle had risen to his feet without really realizing it and his voice was more like a roar than anything else. His chest was heaving from all the emotions that tried to choke him, he wanted to scream and lash out and half expected the electronics around him to start obeying his will like they always did in the other timeline, but all that happened as he stood there, spittle flying from his mouth as he screamed at Isabel, was Max stepping in between them and placing a calming hand on Kyle's trembling shoulder.

"Calm down, Valenti," he murmured, his eyes almost glowing with understanding and sympathy. "Take some deep breaths."

Everything was at war inside of him and Kyle just couldn't calm down, his once upon a time Buddhism approach to things had long since been tortured out of him and he struggled to find his inner serenity. Eventually it became clear to the others as well, because Max led him out and away from Isabel's chastened and somewhat remorseful gaze.

Once outside in the fresh air, some of Kyle's sense returned and he shook off Max's hand on his shoulder and bent forward, taking big gulps of air. "I'll be fine in a minute," he said without looking at the silent hybrid next to him. "I don't know what came over me."

"Oh believe me," Max's voice held a hint of dark amusement that prompted Kyle to actually look at him. "You're not the only one who's lost his mind a little bit. And compared to me, what you're doing is child's play, so relax. We're not gonna judge you."

Sighing heavily, Kyle ploppeddown on the dry grass on the Evans' front lawn and placed his head in his hands. "Honestly, Evans, I'm confused. I mean, I'm glad that I'm here and not dead and all, but…"

Max sat down next to him and nodded, once more seeming to understand what it was that Kyle couldn't quite put into words just yet. "It's okay to be disappointed too. I know we've all felt it since coming back even though we don't really talk about it. It's obviously a blessing; I mean, so many people aren't dead here and just the thought of Liz being alive and well is enough to make my day worthwhile, and yet," Max turned to look Kyle dead in the eye, "I miss my wife. I miss the Unit, hell, I even miss Brody and you know how he was ever since Sydney got her powers and joined us with Serena."

Kyle chuckled, barely remembering the eccentric billionaire that had shared his body with another almost forgotten ally. "True, he only stopped making his comments once Maria and Liz got fed up with them and reminded him that if you hadn't healed Syd, she'd have died in that hospital that Christmas."

They shared a reminiscing smile and sat together in silence. This was one of the reasons why Kyle had developed such a great friendship with Max. They could just sit in silence and still be comfortable.

A few minutes later, Michael stepped outside and sat down on the other side of Kyle. He too had turned into a very close friend to Kyle during the war; their friendship had started out even before they'd fled Roswell.

Of course, Michael was a completely different type of person than Max and he proved it a little while later when he yawned and ran a hand through his ruffled hair. "So are we done sitting and taking in the sights of a boring suburban street or what? 'cause I'm hungry and Maria's got a shift tonight and, no offence guys, but I'd rather sit in silence and stare at her than at nosy Mrs. Robinson across the street."

Kyle grinned, while Max rolled his eyes without responding verbally. At least these two are still as I remember; he comforted himself and took the hand Michael held out to help him up. And the rest is just something I'll have to get used to seeing as a blessing, like Max said.

And so, Kyle put aside his burning desire for things that couldn't be changed, and more importantly his quest for answers to go hang out with the friends that were as battle scared as he was.

Maria's POV

"Ugh, I know it's been explained to me before, but please inform m exactly why your dad keeps Agnes around? She stole my fries and said I could get a new one because, and I quote 'I have the young legs and blonde hair'. Also, I think she put out a cigarette in a customer's coke, so I took it and promised him a refill, it's the guy in booth two."

Maria paused and leaned her head on Liz's shoulder before she completely changed directions and simply muttered, "I'm just so tired."

Liz's answering sigh shook Maria's head from her shoulder and she straightened back up. "I know what you mean. Let me go and ask Dad if we can split a little earlier tonight; he still owes me for going through my stuff because he thought I was a druggie. Oh, there's Max and Michael."

Maria didn't need to hear Liz's exclamation, the bond between her Spaceboy and her had started humming inside of her the moment Max had pulled up in the parking lot. Instead, she just smiled and looked back at Liz, "is it weird that I'm totally used to the weirdness now? And kindda like it?"

"No," Liz laughed, "what is weird is the fact that I'm more or less feeling it too and you and I usually never agree on anything. That's weird."

"Oh shut up," Maria gently bumped Liz's shoulder and quickly walked over to fill some sodas that she knew Michael and Max would like to drink. And Kyle too for some reason.

The whole Kyle being so much around thing still freaked her out a little bit. Maria had known the guy her whole life, but they'd always moved in different circles; only ever interacting during the brief time when Liz had actually seemed to like him as much as he liked her.

Or, Maria smiled a bit at the memory, whenever I got a crush on one of his friends and he desperately tried to make it go away, totally not interested in having one of his friends dating the infamous Maria DeLuca.

For one short moment, Maria thought about how lame those so called crushes had been. Ever since her lips had touched Michael's and she'd finally allowed herself, at least on the inside, to admit that she had very deep feelings for him, she'd considered those crushes a part of another life.

Then Kyle grinned at something Max said and Maria's mind was once more occupied by the unusualness that was Kyle Valenti.

At first, Maria had honestly believed that Kyle had been dared to hang out with Max and Michael. But once she'd watched them interact from the shadows a few times, Maria hadn't been able to deny that there was a genuine looking friendship between them. And, like stated before, it sort of freaked the oil sniffing high school girl out.

I don't know what to think, Maria thought, finishing filling up the last glass of soda and placing them on a tray so she could take it to the boys' chosen booth. If it was just the friendship thing, I don't think I'd care, but he's staring at Liz and me like he can't believe his eyes.

Weaving expertly in and out through the crowded diner, Maria continued inwardly, barely hiding a scowl at where her mind was taking her. But that's not even the worst part. Yesterday in school, he even suggested that we should somehow get his dad and my mom together to work out some past issues. Trying to pimp out our parents; now that's just crossing the line!

"Maria, hey," Michael's honestly happy voice, brought her out of her thoughts and she placed the plate of sodas on the table with what Liz called her 'professional'-smile. "Hi guys. We're a bit swamped right now, so here's a little something to drink to pass the time. Just warning you, it's gonna be a little while. José's threatening to quit because he can't handle the stress; it's only the third time today. Anyway, are you ready to order?"

Maria barely hid a cringe this time, annoyed at herself for babbling so much. Although, the small smile that Michael gave her, told Maria that he at least thought it was pretty adorable.

"That's fine," Max spoke up, not even looking at her anymore, his eyes locked on Liz with a look in his dark eyes that reminded Maria of how Michael looked at her sometimes. "I'll just…"

"Yeah, yeah," said Maria, grinning teasingly, "she's totally incapable of spending her break without you, I know."

Max sent her a smile and was out of the booth almost faster than was possible. Not for the first time, Maria absentmindedly admired the muscular teen's easy, almost predatory, grace as he walked towards the girl he so obviously loved.

"How's your day been?" Michael asked, easily recapturing Maria's attention.

"Fine, I'm just working, trying to force Liz into doing my Spanish homework, you know, the usual."

Maria shrugged and took the now empty tray in her hands again, turning to leave because she could hear Mr. Parker and José going at it in the kitchen and decided they needed a distraction. But she was stopped mid-movement by Kyle's grip on her wrist. Maria made sure to send him a scolding glare; no one touched her without her expressive permission.

"I-I," Kyle stuttered sheepishly, quickly releasing her from his grip, "could help you out if you want? I'm pretty good at Spanish."

Maria couldn't keep her eyebrows from nearly disappearing up in her forehead as the surprise overtook her. And as usual when she was surprised, she blurted out the first thing that was on her mind.

"Okay, who are you and which alternative universe are you from?"

To her immense surprise and confusion, Kyle shot an almost nervous look at Michael, who looked like he'd stopped breathing for a moment. Then the two young men chuckled very half-heartedly at her joke and Kyle spoke again.

"Well, if you decide you need a hand, I'm always willing to help. Oh, and can I have a Sigourney Weaver Special with extra fries, please?"

Okay, that was weird, Maria thought as she dutifully jotted down Kyle's order and Michael's following order of a Skywalker Burger with a side of Tabasco covered fries.

A little under a half an hour later, Maria's attention was grabbed by the New Girl, Tess Harding. She'd entered the Crashdown, shared a few moments of idle chit chat with Liz, while Max had watched with a stony expression on his face, before she'd wandered over to Kyle with an air of trepidation that didn't really suit her.

Maria, who'd always had a very good nose for possible gossip, walked over to a nearby table and started clearing it in slow motion, eagerly listening in. What she heard didn't really make any sense to her. Something about Tess feeling bad for doing something with Kyle that didn't sound like it had been sexual, so Maria honestly couldn't understand why it was such a big deal.

Then Kyle snapped something at Tess that Maria couldn't quite hear, but the vivid feeling of hate and approval at Kyle's actions that bubbled through the bond, confused her so much that she paused in wiping the table and turned to look at the talking trio.

Michael looked constipated, and judging from what Maria could feel inside of her, it was mostly because he was trying with all his might to not let any emotions show on his face. Kyle on the other hand, couldn't quite hide his rage as he looked coldly at Tess.

The poor girl looks like she's being tortured, Maria frowned and after another minute where she watched the curly haired newcomer try and apologize for some reason without getting anything but anger in return, Maria threw the towel in her hands down on the table and marched on over to help out her fellow female.

She managed to catch the end of Tess' "…really thought it was the best way," before unceremoniously pulling Tess up next to her side.

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves," Maria stated, alternating between looking Michael and Kyle dead in the eye. For some reason they flinched when she stared right at them. "Whatever it is she's done, it doesn't justify you two acting like total dicks to her! Come on Tess, I'll get you something to drink."

When Maria walked up to the counter, where Liz was still standing with Max, she noticed the male Evans' look of disapproval and she raised a challenging eyebrow. "Got something to add, Evans? 'Cause I really think you should stop looking like that before I tell you what I think like I did those two," she pointed at Kyle and Michael, who still looked frozen after she'd scolded them.

Max blinked and took in a breath to speak, but fortunately for him, Liz stepped in and handed Tess a diet coke. "Here, I'm still not completely sure what you prefer to drink, but it's on the house. Let's go over here for a second. You look like you could use some friends."

Maria swallowed a smirk, enjoying the look that Max sent Liz; it reminded her of a dog that had been wacked on the nose by a newspaper. All he needs now is the pitiful whine, Maria thought, leading Tess over to a more quiet part of the diner with Liz at her heels.

During the next ten minutes, Maria pulled out all the stops to get the sad look out of Tess' eyes; Liz did too and added her own personal branch of calm, a method that always worked great on Maria whenever she was feeling down and emotional.

Despite their combined efforts they didn't get Tess to tell them exactly why the guys were so mad at her, all she'd say was that she'd done something with the best intentions and that it had backfired spectacularly. Maria's big heart couldn't stop from taking in Tess as part of her friend circle after this, especially since Tess kept looking at Liz and her like they were awe inspiring just from talking to her.

Eventually, Mr. Parker couldn't handle José, the growing amount of customers and Agnes all alone anymore, so he asked them to get back to work until Isabel came and took her shift and Tess smiled, much happier now as she got up and went home.

Maria looked at Liz, who was watching Tess' departure with a thoughtful frown on her face. "Okay, so you were right, she's not that bad. I like her."

Liz smiled, blinking out of whatever it was she was wondering about and patted Maria's arm and said, "There, there DeLuca. That must have been painful for you. Do you need me to say 'I told you so', to make things even better."

Mock glaring, Maria huffed and walked over to José with the orders that Michael and Kyle had been waiting for, for several minutes now. "Hush Parker and go take your lover boy's order."

About twenty minutes later, Isabel came in to do her shift and Maria and Liz walked out to the backroom to change out of their uniforms.

Liz went upstairs, having promised her mother some quality time in-between boys, schools and Maria and Maria walked out the back door to the alley to go home to finish her homework before her History teacher came through on his monthly threat to call her mom.

She'd barely taken more than a few steps, when she felt that special humming through her connection with Michael and quickly turned around, knowing that he'd come out the door after her in mere seconds.

The door opened and there he was; his larger form towering over her, even though she was wearing her heeled booths. "Hi," Maria said when, after a few long moments, Michael still hadn't said or done anything.

"Look," Michael said, running a hand through his messy hair, not knowing that doing that always made Maria's fingers itch to take over themselves, "I'm sorry about before; but you gotta believe me when I say that there's more going on, okay?"

"There always seems to be more going on around you," Maria stated, "and I think I've been pretty decent about that. I just didn't like seeing, and feeling by the way, that side of you. And I'm kindda having trouble with you agreeing so much with Kyle lately; because apparently, it's completely okay for him to know everything!"

She'd shouted the last part, realizing as she said it that it was true. She was more than freaked out about Kyle; she was angry; angry that the guy that had helped bully Alex for years was included in whatever it was that was going on.

"Maria," the tone in Michael's voice was almost broken, like it was physically painful for him to see her so upset.

"Don't you Maria me, Michael Guerin! And I'm gonna be friends with Tess, because no one deserves being treated like they're poison," Maria practically screamed, ignoring the frustrated look in Michael's eyes. "Oh, and another thing Mister; I'm-"

Maria lost every train of thought before she got to finish the sentence. Michael had taken the last few steps towards her and roughly grabbed her before almost crashing his lips to hers; his teeth clanking into hers in a primal display of passionate anger.

He didn't even give her a chance to protest or do anything really, before his warm, wet tongue wormed its way into her mouth and started battling for dominance with her own. Her body betrayed her; on their own, Maria's arms wrapped themselves around Michael's lean waist, pulling him closer and holding him in place at the same time.

Everywhere they touched there was fire; a burning, wonderful warmth that spread through Maria's entire being; she didn't care that she was running out of air, she definitely no longer cared about being angry. All she wanted in that moment was possess Michael the same way that he so obviously possessed her.

There was a few scattered flashes running through her mind; images of an older looking Michael, some of an exhausted looking Kyle for some reason and more, but Maria was way too engrossed in the kiss to really care about anything else.

Slowly, the kiss changed, turning into a soft and gentle pressure on her lips and Maria opened her eyes a moment later, when Michael ended the whole thing by kissing the corner of her mouth and stepping back again.

He looks as dazed as I probably do right now, Maria thought, staring up at him as she tried to banish that special heat that had gathered below her waistline during the explosive moment.

"Maria, I'm so sorry," Michael whispered, only to stop when she held up a hand.

"Don't you dare apologize, it's not like I was fighting you or anything. In fact, I would say I was actively participating, so chill out."

Michael's upper lip twitched like he was about to smile and Maria continued, "If that's your way of stopping people from screaming at you, I'll just scream some more in the future."

"Not people."

Maria was a bit distracted by the soft smile that now lightened up Michael's entire face, "I'm sorry what?"

"I don't stop people by kissing them. Only you," Michael had cautiously stepped closer once again and placed his hand a bit tentatively in hers, linking their fingers together.

"I can respect that," said Maria, not caring that she was grinning like a fool and standing in the middle of the Main street where people could – and more than likely had – seen them sucking face just minutes before.

Then, getting a bit serious again, Maria added quietly, "But I'm not gonna stop trying to figure things out, you know. And Tess is gonna be my friend, so please don't act like a total douche around her anymore, okay?"

"I'll try," was all Michael promised after a long pause, where Maria had literally held her breath in fear of him letting go of her and going back inside the Crashdown.

"That's all I'm asking," she smiled and then puckered her lips excessively, "now let's seal the deal properly. Unless," she grinned mischievously, "you'd prefer a simple handshake."

Judging from the fact that Michael immediately lowered his head towards hers in another, much more sweet kiss, he didn't prefer handshakes.

Max's POV

It had been an eventful day to say the least and Max was feeling the exhaustion in his bones as he finished his work out set and laid down in his bed.

The mild breeze that came in through his half opened window cooled him off and he quickly ran his hand over the length of his body, using his powers to take away any bad odor so he could rest more easily.

Except, sleep was eluding him and for once it wasn't because his war altered memories were trying to get to the surface; no, it was among other things, Hubble's reappearance in their lives that caused his sleep to elude him.

The whole plan to kill Hubble and just go on with their lives in relative peace had been the first one to enter his mind and despite Isabel's objections, Max still felt it was the only way to somehow prevent the whole thing blowing up in their faces.

After all, Max sighed to himself, trying to get comfortable, it's not gonna be the first one I've killed in cold blood, and I seriously doubt that it'll be the last either.

Pushing out the whole Hubble ordeal for the moment, Max's mind went to where it usually went these days; to Liz.

He was beyond thrilled that she'd seemed to overcome her initial reluctance to their connection, especially since he'd found out from Isabel that she'd actually spoken positively about it to Alex when he first learned of it.

They'd been having a rare couple of days together, building up that old connection between them that Max had missed so much that it had been nearly devastating to him. That's why it had hurt so much earlier that day, when she'd turned away from him with Maria to comfort Tess of all people.

Oh how he wished that she'd just magically get her old self back like Kyle had, so he could point out that she'd voluntarily befriended Tess.

The memory of Kyle's haunted eyes earlier when he'd blown up at Isabel and escaped outside came flowing into Max's brain and he sighed heavily. Okay, maybe it's better that she's not troubled with another lifetime in her mind; it's not exactly a picnic and I wouldn't wish the memory of those years on my worst enemy, let alone on the woman that I love more than anyone else.

Suddenly, it was like all the questions and plans in Max's head tried to overwhelm him at once, and he gave up on sleeping and got back up, running a hand over his face with a small groan of annoyance.

A few minutes later, Max pulled on a T-shirt and walked downstairs to get something to drink in an attempt to calm down enough to actually get some decent sleep.

When Max entered the kitchen, he froze the moment he spotted his mother sitting by the kitchen counter sipping from the ugly neon yellow mug he and Isabel had made for her once upon a time.

"Oh, hey Sweetie," she greeted him softly, getting up and making a cup for him. Judging from the smell, it was her homemade cocoa with marshmallows. Max's stomach growled and he wondered if it was worth the questions to go up and put in a few drops of Tabasco sauce in the mix as well to make it just perfect for his peculiar taste buds.

Deciding to settle on the more normal type of cocoa, Max smiled in thanks once his mother placed the steaming cup in front of him and sat down next to him.

"Can't sleep, huh?"

Diane smiled and took a sip more before replying with an air of self mockery, "well, you know I never sleep well without your father. How about you? Bad dreams again?"

"Nah, I'm just too wired, I think. Not tired at all."

The look his mother sent him, told Max that she wasn't buying his story, but that she'd let him get away with it and then she launched into a tale about what she'd been up to for the last few days and Max's mind drifted away to the soothing sound of her voice all around her.

"Max, she's your mother!"

"Not anymore, he's fully taken over; now step aside, Michael."

Snap, the chilling sound of his own hands breaking her fragile neck because he just couldn't think of a way to save her and he knew that she was suffering.

"Goodbye Mom, I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. Khivar, fix this you son of a bitch!"

"Sweetie!"

With a jolt, Max jumped to his feet; the crash of his cup hitting the tiles fully waking him a second later.

With wide eyes, Max looked down at his mother, who was staring at him with a surprised and caring expression on her face, so unlike the last one he'd seen her wearing in the other timeline. "Are you okay? Don't move, okay, I'll go get the mop before you step on any of the shards."

Max stood mutely and watched his mother's calm as she cleaned up his mess for a few minutes. He was fighting off the panic and grief and trying with all his might to stop any of his emotions from reaching the sleeping Liz across town.

The memories about his mother were some that he'd rarely let himself think about, even after it had happened in the other timeline. When he'd first seen her after coming back to the past, Max had nearly crushed her in a hug, happy that she'd just taken it. Diane Evans had always been a very affectionate person and she loved her kids more than anything.

There had just been so many other people to think about that he'd successfully pushed away the thought about what had happened to her, what he'd done to her and finally it had caught up with him in his sleep deprived state with her familiar scent all around him.

Her hand on his cheek, brought Max out of his thoughts and he looked down at her, happy that his rapid heartbeat had slowed down and that Liz would never know about his slip.

"I think it's time for bed," Diane said and gently led Max up to his room and without even letting him get a word in, she started helping him to bed, placing the covers snugly around him like he was a little kid again. Deep inside of him, Max admitted that it felt reassuring in ways that he couldn't even really explain and let her do it without any fuss.

When she left a little while later, Max was already half asleep and he didn't wake until his alarm went off next morning.

0o0o0

When Max woke up, he was in a better mood than he'd been in a long time and he felt well rested for a change.

He quickly devised a plan for the whole Hubble situation, no longer weighed down with the slight aversion to killing in cold blood; the flashback of Diane's death had cured him completely. There was nothing that he wouldn't do to keep the peace and he knew that Isabel felt the same way and that she just hadn't quite accepted that part of herself yet.

Max had planned everything down to the smallest detail and had made sure that Isabel, Kyle and Michael was in on the whole thing too. As he finished the few odd jobs and handled the demands of a certain Star Trek actor; he could already feel himself going to that dark place inside of him that had lived through so much anguish and terror to get through this newest hurdle on the road to becoming boringly normal teenagers.

Looking to the side entrance when the clock struck five, Max spotted Kyle and Michael standing almost hidden in the shadows. To the other side, Isabel was walking around, keeping tabs on the sheriff. He nodded to her and she returned it before making her way towards Kyle and Michael, knowing that the plan was finally about to start.

And just like last time, it didn't take long before Hubble approached him and subsequently lead Max out to his jeep to take him on the exact same car ride that had ended in his death in the other timeline. Max wished he could just end him now and be done with it, but to keep Jim from suspecting anything, he had to play pretend like he'd never done before.

As the darkness settled around them, Max's war trained senses couldn't stop from sending out search pulses to make sure that nothing that wasn't human was after them. From past experiences, Max knew his expression turned into a mask of blankness as he concentrated; like he was just not there mentally and Hubble's voice sounded a bit irritated that his monologue wasn't given the attention it deserved.

With a fake apologetic smile, Max looked over at the middle aged man that he would kill in a very short time. All of his attention was back on the self proclaimed alien hunter now that he was absolutely sure that the only ones following them were Michael, Kyle. Isabel remained behind to make sure that Jim followed Kyle and Michael to Max's destination.

"I've just had a long day, Sir. What where you saying?"

Just then, they reached the abandoned gas station and Hubble told him to pull over. Max's eyes landed instantly on the spot where he'd watched Sheriff Valenti kill the other man in another life.

Checking to see that the others were nearby, Max got out the jeep and followed Hubble, no longer playing the act of confused teenager.

"I'm gonna give you one chance and one chance only," Max's changed tone of voice made Hubble flinch and he turned to look at what he had thought all along to be a shapeshifter capable of murder.

Well, he's right about the murder part, Max thought and continued out loud now that he had the other man's undivided attention.

"I did not kill your wife, I know who did and I can promise you he'll pay for it. Just walk away, Hubble and go start the life that ended here so many years ago."

"You! I was right," Hubble's eyes glinted with an almost insane look that told Max that his warning would not be heeded. "I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch!"

Max's muscles tensed when Hubble took out his gun and knew that the whole plan depended on his ability to make the crazed man forget the weapon and use his hands. This was where the real gamble would take place.

Straightening up, Max deliberately allowed that part of him that his loved ones hated so much to appear. His eyes turned dead and dark, and it was like the air around him bended to avoid the penetrating danger that seeped out of his pores. There was no doubt that Max Evans was a killer and although not the killer that Hubble wanted, it was enough to make him crazy with thoughts of revenge.

Now for the final nudge, Max thought and spoke coldly before Hubble could take aim completely, "Seeing proof of your temper, I have to say that I'm happy for your wife that she died. I mean, a guy that can blow a fuse so fast has got to be a wife beater waiting to happen. Or," Max smirked, looking downright evil, "maybe I should feel happy on behalf of your unborn kid. It never got to see your anger so that's a plus, right?"

That worked better than any other taunt Max could've thought off, because Hubble roared in fury and pounced on him. Even though it was part of the plan to let himself get beaten up by the older man, it was a real struggle to just lie there and take it.

Punch after punch rained down on Max and it wasn't long before he could taste his own blood that poured in from his nose through his half opened mouth. A splitting pain in his torso told its clear story off broken ribs and the crunching sound of his nose breaking, forced out a loud moan of pain. Apparently, even though his mind remembered the war and the torture in vivid detail, his body had yet to catch up and it was not appreciating the beating it was getting.

"Now, Max!" Michael's voice reached Max through the fog of agony, and then his instincts kicked in.

Just before Hubble smacked him in the face with the butt of his gun again, Max caught his wrist and held it in a vice like grip that seemed to shock the sanity back into the mourning husband's mind. Or perhaps it was the deadly look that told of an anguish far beyond anything he'd suffered himself that suddenly locked into his eyes.

Max twisted the gun out of Hubble's now shaking hand and said breathlessly, "I wish you'd just left like I told you to," before firing the weapon with an expert's precision right in Hubble's forehead.

Blood and bits of bone and brain splattered all over Max and mixed in with his own blood. The smell of it, made him gag and he turned his head and coughed up what little he'd had to eat that day even as Hubble's body tumbled off of him and landed harshly next to him, his eyes open and unseeing up at the night sky.

How long Max was lying there in the puddle of so many bodily fluids, he didn't know; he just tried as hard as he could to not give in to the unexpected emotions of horror that was building up inside of him.

When he closed his eyes, it wasn't Hubble he was seeing; it was other people he'd killed without mercy ending up with the time he'd unceremoniously snapped his mother's neck. The sound almost reverberated inside of him.

A moment later, Max realized that the sound wasn't just in his mind, it was the sound of someone taking the safety of a gun and he looked up at a very shocked looking Sheriff Valenti. The man's eyes were glued to Max's terrifying form. Max could see him take in the bruises and blood and make his conclusions about what had transpired.

He didn't, however, lower his weapon; still pointing it without hesitation at Max's frozen body.

Fortunately, for Max, he'd made sure to have a backup plan ready and within seconds, Kyle started following it.

Kyle came running out of the shadows with Michael trailing close behind. Playing their parts of very distressed teenage boys, they were almost sobbing at the sight in front of them. Michael ran to Max's side, acting like he'd never seen such a thing before and was scared to really touch him.

Kyle, on the other hand jumped in-between Max and his father, "Dad, fuck I'm glad you're here! We couldn't stop him! That Larry guy told us that Hubble had taken Max and we knew something wasn't right, and when we got here, he was beating the crap out of Max; Max didn't even defend himself because Hubble was holding a gun! Michael and I wanted to jump in, but we were just so scared of the gun. And, oh my God, it must have gone off in the struggle. What are we gonna do?"

Slowly, Jim's mind seemed to come back to him and he realized he was aiming at his only child and quickly lowered his gun. He looked past a freaked out looking Kyle and met Max's deliberately shocked looking eyes and spotted Hubble's gun still in Max's bloody hands.

"Easy there, Son," Jim cautioned, walking towards Max as if he was a skittish animal.

"Don't call me that," Max choked out, forcing back tears and then he opted to use the same argument he'd used the last time around, "Would you treat your son like this? Following me around, hunting me? You're supposed to protect me…"

Max got to his feet, breathing harshly through the pain that echoed through every fiber of his being as soon as he was standing, "Well, if you want me, here I am. Come and get me; I've just killed a crazy man! Come on Sheriff!"

Michael grabbed his arm and acted like he held him back when in reality, he was sending out an unspoken warning, 'Careful Maxwell, just follow the Plan.'

There was a long, heavy pause where Max felt all of his hopes and dreams for a better future slowly slipping away. If this plan didn't work, they were going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble. Then, miraculously, Max watched Jim's eyes soften a fraction and he looked down at Hubble's body with a determined air about him; like he'd just made up his mind about something.

"Kyle, take Max home and make sure absolutely no one sees him like this. Get him cleaned up and sent home. Stay with him, you too Michael and we'll pretend this never happened. Go!"

Max sighed out a deep breath of relief only to moan quietly when his ribs reminded him of their presence. As Kyle came over to Max's other side and started leading him to the Jeep, they all heard Jim call in a fatal shooting, just like last time and they now knew they had a tentative ally in Kyle's father.

And that made it all worth it, Max thought, banishing the memory of Hubble's wide, shocked eyes to the back of his mind where all of his other regrets went.

Nasedo's POV

"I'm telling you, Man," the human's eager voice explained, not noticing how much the voice grated on the old alien's nerves, "there's something fishy going on! I mean, the bullet wasn't there and the girl just walked up and started talking, right as rain, I'm telling ya!"

Scouting the area for possible onlookers, Nasedo was happy to see that no one took the little man the least bit seriously and he stepped closer in the form of some human that he'd killed several years ago.

"That sounds mighty interesting; wanna go tell me all about it? I have this website that's just getting more and more hits per day and I'd love to have your story there. You know, for the people that are not afraid to know the truth."

The human, Larry grinned with victory and stood up, nodding. "Sure, Man. Let me just call my fiancé, Jen, so she knows where I am."

"Of course, but," Nasedo pretended to think about it, "why don't you invite her along? My girlfriend makes a mean stew that can make people see God."

Larry nodded again, pulling out the primitive device that humans called cell phones for some reason to call his woman.

On the inside, Nasedo was smirking. He might not be allowed to kill the fool and his female counterpart, but he had figured out that accidents on the road would almost always turn out fatal and it was worth the possible injuries to make sure that the two humans stopped causing a stir around his King and his family.

Besides, Nasedo's now small visible smirk was full of true evil; it's been far too long since I've killed anything…

TBC…


	20. Tess, Isabel, Max and Michael

CHAPTER TWENTY

Tess' POV

Some people might say that the way Tess' life had turned out since moving with her alien guardian to Roswell, New Mexico was a little bit on the surprising side. Tess more or less preferred the terms 'mind blowing' and 'life changing'.

Growing up with Nasedo had taught Tess to think on her feet, but always respect her superior and believe in the life she used to have on her home planet. Well, not anymore, Tess thought grumpily as she watched people walk by her as she sat on a bench near the local park.

I'm sick and tired of feeling like I've done something wrong all the time, Tess thought, bending down and ripping off some grass to twist it around in her hands. I thought I had a connection with Kyle, but something must have gone wrong with my powers since he remembers what I did to him.

The look of unadulterated loathing in Kyle's eyes as he'd looked at her when she'd approached him in the UFO center, had nearly brought the curly haired hybrid to her knees. But Tess was nothing if not resilient and she'd decided to try and talk to him regardless of his sudden change of character.

"I won't do that again," she whispered, ignoring the startled look one of the passersby shot her. "At least I know it's only Kyle that's remembering," Tess added quietly.

As soon as she'd left the UFO Center, Tess had forced back the unfamiliar feelings of heartbreak, deciding that feeling that way because of a human was unacceptable, and had looked up the address of Kyle's fellow jock, Johnny.

It had only been a few minutes after she'd knocked on his door that Tess knew that her powers hadn't turned completely against her, because Johnny was too busy leering down her top to flee from her, screaming about what he'd witnessed in the computer lab.

Tess sighed, pushing back her feelings of despair, hating that she was turning into such…well, such a girl. Even her dreams were being influenced now, for some reason it was like her subconscious wanted to make her feel as bad as it possible could with hurtful dreams where her fellow hybrids and their human friends hated her for killing someone.

It was getting on Tess' nerve and she could barely stand to be around Liz and Maria anymore, feeling guilty for something that wasn't even real was very bad for her spirit, and it was suffering enough as it was with Kyle's renewed hatred of her.

Nasedo was also starting to look at her oddly whenever he caught sight of her. He didn't appreciate all the times that Tess had looked sad and pathetic; his words, not hers. Evidently she just couldn't live up to the ideal he had of her former self, Ava.

I wonder if he even cares about me, Tess thought, frowning as she caught sight of some familiar shape in the distance. He used to spend a lot of time with me, training me for my destiny. And now, after coming here and meeting Max and the others, he's basically ignoring me.

Tess' eyes followed the person; she knew that she should know. Leaning forward a bit to follow him with her eyes, Tess suddenly gasped. Nasedo!

What's he doing with that guy? Tess had stood up before even realizing it, her eyes locked on the sight of her guardian having what appeared to be casual conversation with some bespectacled guy and a short haired blonde woman. If there was one thing Tess was sure of, it was that Nasedo never did anything casual what so ever.

Without thinking things through, she quickly made her way over to the chatting trio. If she hadn't been completely sure of Nasedo's identity in the unfamiliar body, the scathing look he sent her as she interrupted him was more than enough proof.

"What are you up to?" she finally asked, pretending that she was a close friend of whoever it was Nasedo was supposed to be.

The unfamiliar guy that Tess vaguely recalled having seen in the UFO Center, grinned and eagerly started speaking before Nasedo could get a word in.

"It's so awesome. He's a fellow believer like me and we're gonna go talk about what happened here in that diner last September. It's gonna go online and people that care will actually know the truth. It's amazing, isn't it Jen?"

"Sure Larry," the woman by his side replied, looking decidedly uninterested as her eyes trailed from Larry to Tess and back.

"Well it was nice seeing you Tess," Nasedo stated coldly, with a fake smile. "But we really have to get going; I'm on a pretty tight schedule today."

"Where are you going?" Tess blurted out the question, knowing full well that she was breaking most of the rules that Nasedo had force fed her with since childhood.

"Nowhere important-" Nasedo started to say, when Larry, once again in his excitement, stepped forward and revealed everything.

"We're going out to the desert where he thinks that Area 51 is. Ain't that like super cool?"

"Excuse us for a moment," Nasedo took a firm hold of Tess' arm, "I just need a moment here with my friend. I'll be right back."

The grip was hard as steel and Tess swallowed back a whimper of pain, as Nasedo led her out of hearing distance from the two humans.

"Inform me please, as to why you are here?" Nasedo's cold voice sent shivers down Tess' spine, and she struggled to make her vocal chords react as her murdering guardian continued, "I ordered you to try and get close to Max and make him see reason, not follow me around like some pathetic human with nothing important to do."

For the first time, Tess felt a small sense of …something, and she blinked away her fears and met Nasedo's emotionless stare head on.

"Don't talk to me like that. I'm your queen and I won't have you sully everything up by obviously disobeying Max's orders. I thought you couldn't kill now that he ordered you not to."

Tess almost moaned, when Nasedo's grip tightened at her defiant words, "you're nothing Tess; you're a weak imitation of Ava. You're unable to even catch a simple boy's attentions away from an even simpler human girl. This is not what I trained you to do all these years. I'm disappointed in you."

Yanking out her arm with all of her strength, Tess took a few steps away. "First of all, don't insult Liz. She's my friend. And secondly; don't do this Nasedo; you're already pushing limits by keeping such a tight hold on Topolsky. Just, do as you're ordered; you don't have to do this."

The look Nasedo sent her, clearly told Tess that he thought her naïve. "I have to protect all of you," he stated softly. "Even if I have to kill every single human to do it, I will. Gladly."

"You're the pathetic one," Tess muttered, the anger and anguish she'd always kept at bay in his presence slowly bubbling to the surface and lending her some power. "You're not on Antar anymore. Your deal with Khivar is lost now that Max told you to forget about it. I'm not gonna use that plan of yours either, something which I know you're hoping for; I will not betray my family, even if they don't want me around all that much."

Even as she spoke, Tess suddenly felt a weird sense of déjà vu. A ghostly voice that sounded surprisingly like her own echoed in her mind, "I was raised by a killer, Kyle…a sick and twisted man…!"

Again, it was like someone else's, in this case Kyle's voice rang through her body, piercing it and leaving a burning trail of hurt inside of her. "You know, of all the aliens I've met…you're the only one that has no soul."

What the hell? Tess shook her head, trying to fight back what was happening inside of her seriously overactive imagination and looked back up into Nasedo's cold stare.

It was like the weird flashes from her dreams were trying to wander over into the time where she was awake, and Tess didn't like it one bit. And, for some reason, I really don't like the thought of being such an evil creature that my dreams keep making me out to be…

Shaking off whatever it was that flew through her; Tess yanked her arm out of Nasedo's grip. The look of surprise on his face was reward enough for her as she tried reasoning with him one more time.

"If you follow your plan and terminate this supposed threat of yours, Max and the others will not forgive you. They're already treading on eggshells around you after the Topolsky incident."

"Don't presume to think you know anything," Nasedo murmured, scanning the area for listeners, "go home and act like the pathetic human you're turning into. You're not the only thing in my world anymore, Tess."

With that, the older alien turned and walked back to a still eager looking Larry.

Tess watched them get inside of Larry's car and drive away and her earlier words about not betraying her family drifted into her mind. Without a second thought, Tess started running towards Max and Isabel's house.

On the way, she could feel tears running down her cheeks, branding her with her betrayal to the man that had raised her; but Tess knew without a shadow of a doubt that she'd finally, officially, picked her side in this tug of war between the guardian and the hybrids and she pushed herself to run faster even as the tears burned down her cheeks.

Isabel's POV

"I spoke with Kyle, and he says that Jim made it all go away just like last time. Evidently, your perfect plan worked, so I hope you're happy." Isabel said curtly as she opened the door to the bathroom where she'd heard Max enter some time ago.

All of her internal anger and hurt at being completely overruled in regards to the Hubble situation flew out of Isabel's mind the moment her eyes landed on her brother.

Max was standing in front of the sink, scrubbing his hands religiously with a bar of soap under running water. His skin was scratched and there were spatters of blood on the white porcelain of the sink, as though he'd literally tried to tear off the skin that offended him so much.

But that wasn't even the worst part in Isabel's opinion, no; it was the haunted look that she could see in his eyes as they were seeing something that she couldn't possibly grasp.

"Max!" Isabel quickly closed the door behind her, and ran to his side. As gently as she could, Isabel quickly grabbed hold of her brother's injured hands and guided him to the edge of the bathtub, coaxing his unresponsive body to sit down while she turned off the water and took out the first aid kit under the sink.

"Let me look at it," she asked and started cleaning the scrapes as soon as Max's big hand was in hers. "What were you thinking?"

"I can't touch Liz with these bloody hands," Max whispered, his gaze dark and so full of desolation that Isabel wanted to scream at him to come back to her.

"You need to heal these up so Liz doesn't get worried," Isabel prompted a few minutes later, when it dawned on her that he had nothing else to say.

"She's gonna be scared of me, Iz," Max's eyes suddenly penetrated Isabel and her breath caught at the sight of pure desperation in his brown eyes. "Somehow, she'll know because Liz always knows and then she'll fear me. I'll break if Liz is scared of me. But I had to do it, Isabel. I know you don't agree and Hubble didn't have a good life, but you didn't see his eyes; he never would've stopped."

Max swallowed and Isabel couldn't think of anything to say as he started muttering to himself, "he never would've stopped."

It's amazing, Isabel thought, fighting back sympathetic tears as she watched her brother silently, how often I forget that Max's heart is bigger than the rest of us'. The way he was after Liz was killed numbed him to the pain, but being back here must have softened him up again and I can't believe I never realized that. He has to snap out of it, we can't win if he's broken completely.

"Max, take a deep breath and just stop, okay?" Isabel grabbed his face and lifted it up so he had nowhere else to look but at her. "I know I disagreed about the way Hubble was taken care of. But I get it. I'm just a bitch, you know that. Michael told me what happened; I know you had to kill him this time around and not Jim. It wouldn't have made sense otherwise with Michael and Kyle being there; I get it. Liz won't have to know. We all agreed that no one finds out the whole truth to protect their innocence as long as we can. What you did was simply to protect us all. So, just, please stop, Max. Seeing you like this is hurting me and I bet Liz too, through your bond."

Max blinked once, staring straight into Isabel's eyes with an intensity that made her want to run back into her room and hide under the covers and call Alex for some much needed comfort. Then he blinked again and some semblance of life flooded back in to his eyes and Isabel regained the ability to breathe.

"I'm sorry," Max's voice was so low that Isabel could barely hear it, but she was just so relieved to see him finding the way back to himself that she didn't care.

"Now heal those things and let's go down to the kitchen; Mom's not home, so I made Tabasco Chocolate Chip Pancakes."

"Yes Ma'am," she caught him say just as she exited the bathroom. It made her smile and she quickly made her way to the kitchen to make another couple of pancakes, knowing that Max had more than likely neglected to eat ever since coming back from his mission.

He always did forget to eat when he was brooding, Isabel knew from past experiences. Whereas Michael and she had always eaten more to quench their worries, Max had a tendency to starve himself. In their other life, Max had been practically emaciated the night they finally finished their plan to come back to the past.

"But that won't happen this time," Isabel stated out loud to the empty room, as if warning off Fate, "I won't let it, because it's all gonna be okay."

"Who are you talking to?"

Max had slipped in next to Isabel at the kitchen counter and she shrieked and threw some flower at him with a grin, happier than she was willing to admit that he was looking like himself again. For the first time since Hubble had reappeared, Isabel was feeling at ease again. Of course, she'd never admit it out loud. "Make yourself useful and fry some bacon, Dumbass," she said instead and turned her attentions towards the pancakes that had grown cold during the time she'd helped Max.

Just as she'd finished warming them up to perfection with her powers, the front door burst open, slamming against the wall harshly and several things happened at once. Isabel immediately fell into a protective stance with her mother's prized steak knife in her hand, glowing as she poured her energy into it. Max instantly raised a glowing shield and the unannounced visitor banged right into it and skidded backwards, banging her head into the wall with a smack.

"Tess?" Isabel straightened up, putting the now burning knife in the sink where it sizzled as droplets from the faucet touched it and Max's greenish shield evaporated as quickly as it had arrived once he too recognized Tess' form. "What are you doing here? Do you need some ice for your head?"

"We don't have time for that," Tess scrambled to her feet, gasping loudly. There were trails of tears on her face and her nose was running and there were signs of sweat around her neck and under her armpits that made Isabel's obsessive compulsive nature cringe.

"You could just have driven here," Isabel pointed out and was about to offer Tess a chance to freshen up in the guest bathroom, when Tess simply interrupted her and everything else no longer mattered, least of all hygiene.

"Nasedo has taken those two humans that witnessed Max heal Liz. I don't know how he's gonna do it with Max's order hanging over him, but he's gonna kill them!"

Mere three minutes later, the trio of hybrids were speeding in the direction of the desert while Isabel was trying to contact Michael and Kyle to tell them to meet them.

"Hey Iz," Michael's voice rang out through the phone, "have you calmed down yet? I don't wanna come back and-"

"Nasedo's causing trouble again," Isabel interrupted and she could almost feel the anger seeping from Michael and she hoped that he wasn't in a too public a place.

"Where do you need us?" Gone was the mocking teenager tone and instead, Isabel was talking to the guy that had been a general in two lives.

She quickly rattled off what Tess had said and where they were going and Michael didn't even say goodbye before he hung up, presumably hurrying to catch up to them, how she had no idea, neither Michael nor Kyle had a car of their own.

Closing the phone, Isabel looked at Max's profile next to her as he sped down the road, "they're coming as fast as they can. What are we gonna do?"

Max's grip on the steering wheel tightened and Isabel could see his knuckles turning white, but his voice was calm when he quietly answered her.

"We need to make Nasedo understand that we're not kids to be protected. I won't keep getting people killed."

Isabel could feel Tess' questioning glance at her brother's words, but she just shrugged noncommittally like she too had no idea what he was talking about.

"Other than that," Max's sigh brought Isabel's attention back on him, "I really have no idea."

Isabel, not really knowing what to say to that, adjusted her ponytail and looked at the landscape as it blurred past. Tess' hand on her arm startled her and she quickly covered it up with a little too much bite to her voice.

"What?"

"I-I just," Tess hesitated at first, but then looked up and met Isabel's frosty gaze right on. "I don't want Nasedo hurt. That wasn't why I told you. He's the closest thing I have to a family."

"Great family," Isabel sniped, hating that tiny pinch of something that seemed to want to sympathize with the blonde. Then it turned into surprise when Tess suddenly straightened up and sneered right back with a coldness in her voice that could match Isabel's anytime.

"Well, I can't exactly call the way you've all been treating me a good thing. You all hated me way before I ever laid a hand on Kyle and despite us actually being a family; you're all treating me like I'm disgusting. And, although I've chosen your side in this, because killing innocent people is wrong, don't make the mistake of thinking that I'm gonna hurt the man that raised me."

There was a pause where Isabel simply didn't know what to say and then Tess added calmly, her voice eerily familiar to the time she'd come back to earth with Zan, only concerned about her son's survival. "Especially since I have never done anything to make you all hate me so much."

Isabel clenched her jaw, really wishing that she could blurt out her knowledge without making things even more complicated, but it just wasn't feasible. She didn't even have to look up to know that her brother was sending her a warning glance.

Instead, Isabel sighed and reminded herself of the promise she'd made not too long ago to not let her old feelings for Tess ruining things in this new life of theirs. Smiling as sincerely as she could, Isabel spoke again. "You're right and I'm sorry that it's been so obvious, Tess. I guess Max, Michael and I are just a tight knit group and don't like changes."

"Didn't stop you all from pouring out your secret to your friends," Tess pointed out.

"Well, that's a whole other matter that's not really that interesting. I just want you to know that I'll try to stop making you feel so attacked. I might seem like an ice cold person most of the time, but once you get past that, I can be a pretty decent girl."

"Not to interrupt," Max's voice interrupted the very rare moment of understanding that was happening between the two female hybrids, "but we're here and Michael's coming up behind us."

Isabel turned and couldn't quite contain a grin at the sight that met her. I guess no matter what timeline they were in, Maria's mom's Jetta always has a part to play.

The familiar sight of the rather run down vehicle actually served to calm Isabel more than anything else had so far, not even Alex's continuously confused, but soothing emotions had helped all that much.

A minute later, she was jumping out of the Jeep, meeting Michael halfway. A part of her was surprised that Kyle wasn't with him, but Michael answered her unspoken question quietly when the others weren't paying attention. "Told him to stay behind to make sure the others don't worry too much. Said it was something with Hank that couldn't wait."

"Good," said Isabel, turning back to Max, who was listening attentively to Tess' description of how Nasedo had looked like before, in case he was still in the same body.

Led by Max and Michael, they all dropped to the ground, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, knowing that shading their appearance with powers would more than likely make Nasedo realize they were on to him.

It was a piercing scream that made them all throw caution to the wind; Isabel was the first one on her feet and thus the first one to see what was going on.

As she came up over the last of the small hills that had been hiding them from plain sight, Isabel spotted Nasedo standing with his fingers around Larry's throat while using his powers to push off a fiercely struggling Jen as she did her best to try and help her fiancé.

"STOP you son of a bitch!" Isabel roared, raising her hands and sending off one of the strongest attacks she had.

Nasedo didn't have time to use Larry as a shield, so he threw him away and jumped backwards with a fluid grace that didn't match the slightly dorky person he resembled.

Isabel didn't give him time to rest, her body already moving in that deathly dance that she'd been through so many times before. Nasedo was not as fast as she was, but he was most definitely more resourceful and less controlled by his emotions, so he sent her a mocking smirk as he elegantly twisted out of reach from yet another blast. The rock that it hit practically melted with a sizzling sound and he looked over at her with mild surprise in his otherwise emotionless eyes.

"Are you really capable of killing me? Why can't you see that I'm doing this to protect you? Besides," here Nasedo skillfully put up a shimmering shield, similar to that which Max preferred to use to avoid being killed by a panting Isabel, "…besides as you should know if you hadn't been so emotional Princess, I wasn't going to kill that man; I'm forbidden remember?"

"That's not what it looked like, Man," Michael's voice sounded from behind Isabel and she braved a quick look to see that Max was busy assessing Larry's throat with knowing eyes, Tess was staring sadly at her guardian and Michael was standing with his hands in a battle stance, ready to protect a trembling Jen that had taken cover behind him, while watching Isabel with wide, confused but grateful eyes.

"Oh Swell," Nasedo rolled his eyes, "You're all here. Together." His gaze was locked on Tess and Isabel stepped in-between them instinctively protecting the other female. Although, Isabel mused silently, there was something in Nasedo's look that told her that he might dislike them all; but Tess wasn't part of that, so she relaxed minutely as she waited for something to happen to end the stalemate they now found themselves in.

"If you weren't going to kill them by hand, what was your plan?" Max's voice was cold as ice and Isabel swallowed down her basic desire to stay the hell out of his way as he stood up and slowly made his way closer to Nasedo.

This has the potential to go really bad, reallyfast…I hope everything will work out; please let everything work out in the end. Isabel practically prayed to the God that she didn't quite had the will to believe in anymore as she watched her brother take on that horrible mask of his that signaled that he was willing to fight to the death.

Max's POV

"You keep thinking that you know best, Nasedo. That's one of your flaws." Max said slowly, his voice carrying through the otherwise silent air.

The way the other man looked at him, quite clearly told Max that if he wasn't careful there'd be a repeat performance of their fight.

"And you keep believing that you're so superior, Boy. That arrogance has brought you and yours nothing but pain on Antar and now here as well. I will not watch you ruin everything due to some misguided act of sentimentality!"

They all stood immobile for a long minute, everything was quiet; the weeping Jen in the background having lost her ability to wail in the tension; even the slight breeze in the air stopped as if to not offend anyone.

Then, suddenly, Nasedo moved and Max intended to dodge out of the way, not interested in spending too much energy this time around; he was very aware of Liz's scared and confused anger running through him and he didn't want her to worry even more than she'd already had to with the Hubble situation.

That, of course, cost Max some of his usual speed and agility and he was caught off guard when he did something that he rarely did; he tripped over a small cluster of loose rocks on the ground and would without a doubt have been hit by the projectile of fiery power that Nasedo had sent towards him.

Except, suddenly, there was a shout of his name and Max felt someone push him hard enough to fall to the ground. It was only the fact that Max's mind was as experienced a fighter as it was that his body instinctively twisted in the air and he caught the one that had taken the hit for him.

To Max's huge shock and disbelief, he was now cradling a moaning Tess in his arms. She was definitely injured, her warm blood seeping onto his hands and clothes with a ferociousness that quickly forced Max into his doctor mode.

He worked fast and counted on his family to have his back while concentrating everything he had on Tess's still form. She was no longer conscious, her breathing labored and the whole thing was so surreal that Max couldn't really process it. Here he was, saving the woman that he'd hated for so many years.

"Tess, come on, open your eyes," Max murmured, ripping her shirt apart to fully access the injuries on her small body. There was a nasty gash right down her chest and it probably wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't still sizzling with some unfamiliar power; evidently, Nasedo had let his rage overtake him enough to break one of his earliest orders of never harming his charges.

"Can you save her?" it was Isabel's presence that made Max snap back into focus.

"I don't know. She's so far gone that I can't form the connection with her…Keep your hands there," Max instructed, "Keep pressure on it so the blood flow lessens. She's already lost so much blood."

It was like Max was two different people in that moment; the meticulous and detached healer and the shocked, and rage filled man that deep, deep down used to have, if not love for Tess, then at least respect.

Something burst inside of him when, once again, Tess didn't respond to his summons and Max looked up at the man responsible, covered in blood up to his arms and his dark eyes shining with fury. "Are you happy now?"

"Please, Za- Max, please don't let her die," Nasedo pleaded, his voice nothing like Max had ever heard before. The older alien's eyes were trained on Tess' still form, on the still gushing blood that obscured the sight of her actual wound. It was the first time that Max realized that Nasedo actually loved Tess.

"Max, she won't stop bleeding!" Isabel screamed and Max's attention snapped back to Tess. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Michael shielding the two whimpering humans with his body while piercing Nasedo with a warning stare that could have melted stone.

The sight of the dying Tess was something that Max secretly had always wanted to see; her first death by suicide hadn't been satisfactory to all of the negative emotions that he had for her; but now, seeing her like this wasn't pleasing in the least.

Particularly because her earlier words to Isabel kept running on repeat in Max's mind. "I have never done anything to make you all hate me so much." Because Tess had been right; in this timeline they'd all failed to let the past be past. The young Tess in front of him was still innocent enough to hate the thought of killing; she'd never purposely harmed anyone and her loneliness had catapulted her into a sincere friendship with Liz that Max knew was heartfelt from both sides.

This isn't the one that killed Alex, Max thought and for the first time, he realized that he didn't hate this girl; he hated the one that had betrayed them all and caused him to lose so much time with Liz, who had ruined so much and left so much pain behind that even a deadly war hadn't been able to mute the feelings caused by her.

And in that moment, all Max wanted was to save the woman he had called wife in another life. "Come on, Tess!" He grabbed her face and forced open her eyelids, but it was of no use. Suddenly, there was a flash of a long forgotten memory in his mind.

They were all standing in a cave, looking down at Michael, cocooned by his illness. River Dog guiding them all to heal him in tandem.

"We don't have time to get the stones here," Max whispered to himself, not noticing the questioning, and slightly desperate look Isabel sent his way. "But we're all here; we work best when we're together."

"Maxwell, focus!" Michael yelled and Max looked up, not once stopping from trying to heal the bloodied form beneath him.

"Michael! Nasedo! Come here!" He barked out the order, ignoring how Isabel began to protest at Nasedo's presence and launched into a quick explanation, "Remember the healing in the cave? We can't go get the stones, we don't' have time, but I need you all to join powers with me; it'll give me the boost I need to get inside her head and drag her back out."

Max grabbed Nasedo's trembling hand, smearing the murderer with Tess' rapidly cooling lifeblood. "Iz, join hands, Michael, touch my shoulder, I need to have one arm free while I do this. NOW!"

As soon as he felt Michael's hand on his back, Max forced Tess' eyelids open again and dove inside to drag her back to the realm of the living.

It was pitch black and there was no sound at all; it was like Max was floating in a place where nothing had ever existed and he had to swallow back some primal panic.

"Tess!" He called repeatedly, lighting up his path with his glowing hand. "Come find me!"

It felt like an eternity passed before something flickered on the edge of his sight and Max turned his head as fast as he could and caught the sight of something moving away from him. Following whatever it was; Max just knew that Tess wasn't far away anymore.

He blinked and gasped in shock when he saw the form of a much younger Tess, the way she'd looked the time she came out of the pod. She was kneeling, covered in blood from the wound that was morbidly still present even inside her own mind. "I'll be good, please don't leave me," she kept whispering, her young voice high and full of fears, "I don't wanna be alone anymore. Save me Max. Someone just save me; I'll be good, please."

Slowly, Max knelt down before her, making her jump with fright as his presence startled her out of her panicked state of mind. Some semblance of rationality came back to her eyes as they locked with his.

"Am I dead now? Are you here to punish me?" The hopelessness in her voice touched something that Max thought had died a long time ago inside of him.

"Tess, I'm here to help," was all he said as he slowly held out his glowing hand for her to grasp. "Just take my hand and we'll go back together."

"You hate me," the child stated calmly, never once blinking or looking away. "I try to be good but you all still hate me."

"Just take my hand and we'll work things out," Max could feel the coldness seeping into his very essence and knew that his time was running out; if he didn't hurry it would be too late. For the both of them. With a superhuman effort, Max fought off the chill and gestured with his hand one more time. "Come on, Tess!"

"I'm scared," the curly haired child admitted in a soft whisper and Max's heart ached for her.

"I know, it'll all be better as long as you take my hand," for some odd reason, Max just had a knowledge inside of him that Tess had to be the one to take his hand, if he forced her, she would be gone forever.

"Y-you promise?" The hesitant hope in her eyes finally killed the last bit of resentment inside of Max and he answered with the truth, nodding with his chin at his hand.

"I promise. I won't hurt you again; please just take my hand and let me prove it to you."

Slowly, Tess looked down at his offered hand; her frame growing more and more transparent by the second and Max felt as if the blackness was suffocating him, tearing him apart from the inside in its haste to prevent him from taking Tess with him.

Then things happened very quickly, Tess placed her small hand in his and they were off. Their combined powers chased the darkness away and when Max reopened his eyes, he was staring down at Tess' still form on the ground, still holding a firm grip on Nasedo's hand.

The pain inside of him was on fire, and Max had a suspicion that he would pay for this journey later, but first, he leaned forward and asked Tess to open her eyes one more time. There was a brief pause, where all his fears came roaring back to life, what if he'd lost her on the way, but then her eyes flickered and a second later she was looking at him with wonderment.

Max didn't waste any time before placing his hands on her wound, starting to heal her and with her mental cooperation, it wasn't difficult to cleanse the wound and pull out the alien fire still burning inside of her. A minute later, Tess breathed out a sigh of relief as Max closed the wound completely and the pain seemingly left her.

They shared a long look, both reaffirming their agreement of being if not friends, then family for a second, before Tess turned her head to look at Nasedo, who hadn't moved since Max had let go of his hand.

"I forgive you," she whispered and to Max it seemed like her voice psychically hurt the older alien, "but I won't be your responsibility any longer. You need to stop hurting people; there are other ways of getting your point across, Nasedo. So just stop, please."

"I have to protect you all," Nasedo murmured half-heartedly, his gaze traveling over to the pale faces of Larry and Jen.

The way he looked at them, still with some barely hidden contempt at their humanity, finally cracked Max's resolve and since he knew Tess genuinely loved her guardian, he couldn't kill him. He did the next best thing.

Unceremoniously, Max grabbed hold of Nasedo's face and twisted it in his direction, compelling him to look him into his eyes. "Here's what's gonna happen if you keep going in your own direction; this is what your precious protection can result in!"

Then Max let go of the mental chains that kept all of his hideous and horrific memories hidden away in a dark corner of his mind. He poured every single memory into Nasedo, showing him what kind of woman Tess had turned out to be in the original timeline; making him see just how the bonds with the humans had saved their sanity over and over again over the years. The memories of the vicious war actually caused the proud alien to groan, as if the agony was simply too much to bear.

While the connection between them was open and Max educated Nasedo, he could feel some of Nasedo's memories fly into him. What he saw, made Max understand the man so much more and his logical self returned when the last memory of them returning to this time had been force fed into Nasedo's abused mind.

With a gasp, Max broke the bond between them and let go of Nasedo, who promptly fell to the ground, trembling and moaning in mental agony. "This is what will happen if we don't stop it," Max whispered, feeling his vision darken as the events of the day finally caught up to him.

His body ached and the pounding in his head made him feel like someone was tramping on his brain, but Max never once looked away from Nasedo, who was weeping into the dusty ground. The memories that he'd gotten in return were still aligning themselves inside of him, but Max knew one thing for certain.

Nasedo never wanted anything to happen to Tess, not because she was the closest thing to a child he had, but because she was a part of Ava. The only woman he'd ever truly loved. Max used that knowledge and said, "She will never be free if you keep messing things up. Let her be happy here."

"I'm so sorry," Nasedo looked past Max and met Tess' confused stare. "I never meant to hurt you. I only tried to make you strong and independent…I'm sorry."

Then he slowly got to his feet, staggering a bit as if the load that Max had burdened him with was weighing him down not only on the inside but on the outside as well. "I'll go to L.A," he proclaimed, now knowing that Max and the others already knew about Cal and started walking away silently, "I'll wait for further instructions, Your Majesty" he added, his old subservient attitude having been returned with vengeance.

Max stubbornly held out until Nasedo's form had disappeared from sight, but then he couldn't handle the pressure on his brain anymore and he fell to the ground, blissfully unaware of everything for a short while.

Michael's POV

Max's form crumbled to the ground and Michael moved like lightning to catch him before he nosedived into the hard ground.

Instantly, Isabel was at their side, looking frantic and very exhausted. Michael didn't care about anything then to make sure that his leader wasn't dying on him.

His body had burned and protested ever since Max had borrowed some of his strength to go heal Tess, and he knew that he needed rest, but that was nothing compared to Max.

The brunette's skin was pale and covered in a fine sheet of sweat that made his skin cold and clammy to the touch. He was still covered in Tess' blood and his nose was bleeding, adding more red to an already ghastly image. "He's just exhausted," Michael recognized the signs from the times he'd witnessed his friend overuse his healing powers. "He needs to sleep it off."

"What do we do now? We can't take him home like this," Isabel said, her fears leaving her eyes a bit now that Michael had assured her of her brother's survival.

"W-well," Tess spoke and stood up, holding her tattered shirt together in front of her, evidently, she too was exhausted since she hadn't just fixed the fabric. "We could take him to my place. I…well, it's not like I have anyone that'll notice anymore," her eyes turned to the spot where she'd last seen her protector.

Remembering Maria's plea to stop being so cold towards Tess, Michael nodded mutely and then slung Max over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Lead the way."

"Uhm," Tess frowned, looking over at Larry and Jen. Larry had long since fainted, but Jen was watching them with widened eyes full of fear and a hesitant gratitude. "What do we do with them?"

"Mindwarp them," Isabel ordered, making Michael look at her in surprise; he hadn't expected her to approve of that method at all, all things considered. But apparently, he'd missed something on the way to the desert because Isabel wasn't looking the least bit apprehensive as she spoke the words.

"I'm too tired to do more than one 'warp," Tess confessed, running a bloodied hand through her messy hair. "Even as is, I doubt it'll be permanent, they'd probably remember everything sooner or later."

"Don't make me forget, please," Jen pleaded, standing up over Larry. "I swear I won't tell a soul about this. I've never even been interested in finding you guys in the first place; that was all Larry. He became obsessed and then I was just along for the ride. If…" she stopped to briefly look down at her bespectacled fiancé with a hesitant affection in her eyes, "if you make him forget, I'll make sure that if he suddenly remembers, then I'll contact you. Please."

Tess and Isabel looked at Michael when Jen finished speaking. Great, he thought, hoisting Max's unresponsive form higher up on his shoulder, so it seems like I'm the interim leader now. Thanks Maxwell, you better wake up soon…

"Sounds like a decent plan," Michael finally said and Tess nodded in agreement. Isabel didn't say anything; she was too busy staring at Max with sisterly worry. It seemed that all she really wanted was a chance to mother hen her brother for a bit.

A little under an hour later, Michael pulled into Tess' driveway and hurried inside with Max. Isabel joined them in the Jeep a moment later; Tess by her side.

Tess guided him to a guestroom where there was only a bed present and nothing else. Fortunately, it was made and ready for use and Michael placed Max on the bed and was just about to ask for some warm water and fresh clothes to clean him up, when Isabel came inside the room, carrying a bowl of water and a bundle of towels.

"Tess, you should take a shower and get something to eat, you're only just healed. Michael, I need you to go through Nasedo's stuff and see if he left behind any clothes that'll fit Max and I'll clean him up in the meantime."

Nodding, Michael did as ordered, silently happy that Isabel's Christmas Nazi nature had shown itself for a minute. He'd just opened a drawer in Nasedo's Spartan bedroom, when his forgotten cell phone rang. He grabbed it, pulled out the small antenna on it, while sorely missing the more up to date version of his cell phone and answered it when he recognized Kyle's number.

Kyle's slightly panicked voice reached him a second later, and Michael couldn't contain a slight groan of frustration when he processed what had been said.

"Dude, my fellow humans are pissed and heading your way. They felt you come back into town, and I couldn't stop them; they don't really trust me yet and told me to stay out of their way. So, consider this a heads up; they'll be wherever you are in a matter of minutes, I think."

Suddenly, there was a pounding on the front door and Maria's voice echoed loudly through it. "We know you're in there! We want answers and we want them like yesterday People!"

Michael sighed heavily into the phone. "Great, this day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"

Kyle chuckled in the other end. "Do you really need me to answer that?"

Michael rolled his eyes and did the only mature thing; he hung up and tiredly turned towards the front door to deal with, judging from the sound alone, some very irate humans.

TBC…


	21. Liz, Michael, Max, Liz and Kathleen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of stuff happens, Max makes a deal with Kathleen...

CHAPTER TWENTYONE

Liz's POV

Liz stood behind a severely agitated Maria DeLuca, as she hammered on the wooden door to Tess' house with enough power to make the house shake in its foundations. While Maria tended to get more and more vocal in her rage, and Alex was more of a surprising verbal kind of guy, Liz went mute. Her ability to speak was already extremely diminished as she waited impatiently for someone to open the goddamned door before she kicked it in!

Finally, Michael's form appeared in the doorway and Liz didn't even give Maria a chance to lay into her boyfriend before pushing the bigger male roughly out of the way and all but running into the Harding residence in search of her own sort of boyfriend.

" Max?" Liz asked Isabel, who'd just appeared on the staircase. Apparently, the beautiful hybrid seemed to recognize the state of mind that Liz was currently in, because she simply pointed behind her up the stairs.

"He's sleeping right now; he's been through a lot."

"I know that," Liz replied, walking by Isabel as calmly as she could manage, while her entire being itched to be close to its bonded counterpart. "I just don't know what he's been through 'cause neither of you have told us anything!"

Before Isabel could reply or even attempt some unwanted soothing, Liz reached the door where she could feel through the bond that Max was sleeping in a near comatose state. Slowly opening the door, Liz held her breath, fearing what she was about to see.

In the next second, she let out a shocked gasp, and nearly stumbled in her eagerness to get to his bedside. Whatever it was that she's expected, this wasn't it. It was far worse.

It was obvious that he'd been through hell and back since she'd last seen him. His face was an unflattering shade of pale that made him seem as though he'd been deathly ill recently. A bowl of water stood on the nightstand and its reddish color told the always noticing Liz that Isabel had probably been up here cleaning blood off of him. She immediately began searching him for wounds, a part of her still female enough to appreciate the muscled chest that her removing the blanket revealed.

To her immense relief, there didn't' seem to be any injuries, and so, Liz sat down, feeling a bit calmer now. She was unconsciously running her hand over Max's ruffled hair as she mentally reviewed what she'd been through these last few days.

The amount of emotions that had run through her in the past few days alone had left Liz more than a little emotionally drained, making her feel fragile and unsure in a way that she'd never before experienced. The always changing flashes of abrupt pain, anger, hate, guilt and even fear had kept the young brunette up at night, leaving her with an eerie restlessness that not even her usual night sky gazing could suppress or soothe.

"What's been going on with you lately, Max?" Liz asked softly, caressing his soft dark hair gently as though her very touch could be painful to him.

"He saved my life today," Tess' voice suddenly sounded from the doorway and Liz moved her head in the direction of her newest friend so fast, that her neck gave an audible crack of complaint.

"Oh?" Liz's eyes took in the sight of the curly haired blonde in silence. It was obvious that Tess had also been through a lot since they'd last seen each other. The soft skin under her eyes was darkened with exhaustion and her clothes were rumbled and dirty. Nothing like the usual impeccable girl she used to be.

"Shouldn't you be in bed or something?" Liz reluctantly stopped touching Max's still unresponsive face and stood up. "You look beat."

Tess sent her a small smile, "Well; even if I needed to go back to sleep, it's not like I could with that ruckus going on downstairs."

A tell tale crash of something – probably porcelain – sounded in that very moment, alongside with Maria's screeching and both girls shared a knowing look; not even needing to see it to know that their tenacious friend was letting all her frustrations out in the best way she knew how.

"Come, sit," Liz looked around and spotted a small chair by the other end of the room, gesturing for Tess to take a seat. "At least sit down and tell me all about what happened. It doesn't seem like I'll get any answers out of Max just yet, and I already know that the other two won't tell me anything unless he gives his permission. I'm telling you, it's like he's their freaking leader or something; it's very annoying."

Liz pretended not to notice the guilty start in Tess when she said the stuff about Max, apparently she was more right than she realized, but she settled down next to Max's side again and patiently waited for the hybrid girl to start talking.

0o0o0

A little while later, Liz emerged from Max's temporary bedroom and walked downstairs to prevent her best friend from outright killing Michael.

The sight of Isabel standing silently in front of a obviously upset, but still gently scolding Alex and Michael holding up a wooden tray as a shield against whatever new object Maria found to throw at him while she berated him for his thoughtlessness, was enough to almost put a small smile on Liz's lips, but she shook off the temptation and told everyone to just stop talking.

Maria froze with a hand raised, clutching an already broken vase at the hollow tone that even Liz could hear in her own voice.

"Liz, are you okay?" Maria seemed to put aside her animosity towards Michael momentarily and turned to fully face her. "You need anything to drink? How's Max? Did he tell you anything? This one," she nodded with her chin at Michael, who'd hesitantly put down the tray, "won't say anything other than it was an emergency. It's not like that's any decent excuse for scaring us to pieces!"

At the last word, Maria threw the vase again and only Michael's lightning quick reflexes saved him from getting the porcelain right in the face.

"Maria, just stop," Liz muttered, rubbing her chest, feeling a slight burn of emptiness that was peculiar after seemingly so long periods of time filled with changing feelings. "I really can't deal with anything more right now."

"Are you okay, Liz?" Alex asked, turning away from Isabel to look at her with concern in his eyes.

"Yeah; I'm just…" Liz sighed, not finishing her sentence. Instead, she looked over at Maria. "Look, I'm gonna head home for a little while and I'd appreciate a ride. Or, if you'd rather keep throwing things like a toddler in a tantrum, I'll just walk. See you guys later," she added as she turned to leave.

"Liz…" Surprisingly, it was Michael that halted her movement and she looked at him over her shoulder. "We...It's not that we don't want you to know stuff."

"I know," Liz replied, and then decided to be a little evil as she continued on her way out of the door, "but I don't need you to tell me what happened. Tess told me everything."

A tiny part of Liz reveled in the shocked faces of the two teenage aliens, while the rest of her just couldn't muster up anything other than sadness. The past few days had exhausted her emotionally; whatever it was that had transpired before Max and the others went after Nasedo, it had been something extremely disturbing filled with bursts of anguish, anger, regret and even desperation.

She managed to put her pettiness behind her; at least a little bit and just continued walking slowly outside. Before she'd taken too many steps down the road, Liz heard Maria follow her and she stopped walking and waited for her best friend to catch up with her. A minute later, the red Jetta pulled up next to her and the passenger seat opened.

"I'm so gonna need to know everything you know," Maria's voice drifted out to Liz.

"It's not exactly a great story," Liz warned, "in fact; it just might make you even more emotional."

"I don't care; I'm sick and tired of just knowing half of things. And besides, I promised Michael I wouldn't go digging into their mysterious…well, mysteriousness; but you never did, so I really want to know."

"Fine," exclaimed Liz and got into the car. She'd just put on her seat belt when the door to the backseat opened and Alex got inside the vehicle as well. She couldn't quite stop herself from gawking at her other best friend and judging from the quick glance she shot Maria, the other girl was looking equally as dumbstruck.

"Hey, I'm just as curious as you two," Alex muttered, looking earnest. "And I'm not gonna stay out on the sidelines while you two run around snooping. We're a team, right?"

Liz smiled sadly, but she couldn't deny that she felt a little bit gratified and sincerely happy that despite her and her friends' obvious feelings for the otherworldly teens; they were still willing to be the group of best friends they'd always been.

"Yeah, Alex that's right." Liz nodded and then quickly told them all about the debacle with Nasedo that had nearly cost not only Tess her life, but all the others as well apparently.

Michael's POV

"Maria, stop! It's insane. You can't go out there, we've already lost too much today!" Michael's voice was raw with barely repressed emotions; Max's grief filled whimpers still echoed inside of his weary mind even after he'd fallen into a horrifying silence.

Maria's once so vibrant eyes met his and she didn't blink as her hands kept fixing some of the weapons that they'd gotten together over the years. "I don't care. Those bastards killed my best friend, Michael. The last thing I said to her was that she was an idiot for risking her life like that; I didn't…" Maria faltered and wiped away a rare tear that had sneaked down her cheek during her words. "I just have to live with being too scared to help her save Max, but I won't live with those horrid people rejoicing right in front of us. I can't!"

Michael knew he sounded too weak; that his evident lack of belief in their overall victory would do nothing for the few survivors left; but like his wife, he just didn't care anymore. "Please…I can't lose you too. You're the only thing keeping me sane. You mean the world to me."

For a split second, Maria's deadened eyes softened a fraction and Michael almost dared to hope, but then her gaze wandered past him and landed on the form of a badly injured Max, cradling Liz's dead body in his still bleeding arms and he knew he'd lost her.

"I'm sorry Michael; but I promise you can tell me what an ass I am when I get back."

Michael shook his head determinedly, "You're not going out there without back up; without me."

"You're all wounded or too exhausted to be of any use to me," Maria objected, but Michael refused to listen to her logic and stood back up from where he'd fallen once they'd heard Max's roar of disbelief when Liz had passed away so little time ago.

"I'm going and you're not stopping me," he stated instead.

Maria sighed and held out her scarred hand to him, "Fine, but first let me take a look at that gash on your forehead; it's gotta be pretty painful by now."

Michael wasn't expecting what she did next; he'd already begun compiling mental checklists of what to bring out to the field himself, but then he felt Maria's soft chapped lips graze his cheek and heard her whisper, "I love you too much to take you with me. I'll kill a few for you too, Spaceboy," before he was forced into staring at Maria's powerful eyes that immediately sent him into an oblivious darkness…

Michael woke up with a jolt; the memory of the last time he'd seen Maria before her death in the original time line catapulted him into instant alertness. His eyes scanned his surroundings like the professional soldier that he still was on the inside and forced himself to take deep, calming breaths even as the information from his quick assessment filtered through his brain.

It was early yet; the sun had just risen and the unfamiliar setting proved to be Tess' place and once, a few moments later, Michael realized that the only real danger around him was giving himself an ulcer he managed to get himself back together.

"I hate those stupid memories," he grumbled, as he got up from the pullout couch that he'd fallen into with a groan of exhaustion the night before. A realistic part of him knew that these last few days that had been full of adrenaline and fear had more than likely been the catalyst for his dream.

And having Maria mad at me always seems to be the ultimate trigger, Michael thought as he went to take a quick look at Max before grabbing a much needed shower. Max was still sleeping off the bone deep fatigue he'd gotten himself into and Michael decided that that was a good thing, considering how much he'd been through both with Hubble and with Nasedo as well.

Once he'd transformed his dirty clothes with his powers, Michael went in search of something to eat. His stomach was making sounds that clearly stated that it didn't even have to taste good, as long as it was edible, he'd be content.

When Michael reached the kitchen a few moments later, he stopped abruptly at the sight of a still slightly weary looking Tess, who was rummaging through the fridge while humming to herself. A quick look at his surroundings told Michael that she was about to cook some kind of breakfast.

Taking a long breath and preparing himself mentally to lose the last bit of negativity towards the woman he'd hated for over a decade, Michael walked over to the counter next to the fridge and grabbed the box of eggs sitting there.

"What kind of eggs do you like?" he asked brusquely, ignoring the jolt his appearance sent through the female hybrid.

What he couldn't quite ignore was the brief look of suspicion and hope that flashed through Tess' eyes and Michael ran a hand through his hair, feeling guilty and defensive all at the same time. Damn, it's like her innocence pierces through me even more after yesterday. She really wants to be a part of us and Maria and Liz were right; she deserves better…Time to man up, Guerin.

Michael finished his internal pep talk and shrugged when Tess still didn't react. "Look, I'm starving and I make a mean breakfast so…again, how do you want your eggs, Tess?"

"That's the first time you've ever said my name and looked me in the eye at the same time." Tess pointed out quietly, and again, Michael could easily spot how his – and his fellow time travelers – behavior had affected her, but then she surprised him by beaming for one small second.

"But I hope it's not the last. Anyway, I like scrambled eggs with Ta-"

"Tabasco sauce, right?" Michael interrupted with a genuine smile. We aliens really do love our hot sauce.

"Yeah," said Tess, looking happy that he shared her taste, "and I also add this tiny dash of vanilla powder; it really gives it a kick like you wouldn't believe."

"Really?" The thought intrigued the always hungry former cook, who immediately went to work. And simultaneously chatting, if not entirely amiably then at least with a new level of comfortableness that relaxed them both and reminded Michael of a time where Tess had been his teacher and friend; something he'd all but forgotten up until now.

0o0o0

Michael stalled for as long as he could, but eventually he had to go wake up Max for school. They couldn't afford to act out of the ordinary and Max Evans was rarely, if ever, absent from school.

"See, that's why it's fun to be me right now," Michael joked, watching with eyes like a hawk how Max more or less staggered out of Tess' house with a hovering Isabel next to him, ready to lend a hand if need be. "I've always been unpredictable when it comes to my schooling so the teachers will only be concerned if I actually show up too many times in a row."

Max sent him a look that clearly told him to keep his mouth shut and Michael grinned; feeling oddly happy now that the tension of the last few days was finally ebbing away. Max was alive and getting better by the second. Tess wasn't a part of the huge conspiracy with Khivar this time around and Nasedo was gone – hopefully for good.

Excepting Maria's annoyance with him, things were great. Now all we have to worry about are Topolsky, Pierce, the Dupes, the Skins and the healing of our old friends before their illness gets them killed…Michael thought, suddenly feeling his earlier tension return little by little at the thought of just how much they still needed to get through before they could live normal lives.

In the next second, Michael shut those frustrating thoughts out of his mind because Isabel had just pulled into the school's parking lot and Kyle stood by his own car, waiting patiently for them. It was obvious to the trained eye that the once dead man turned teenager was dying to know the details of what had transpired over the last twenty four hours.

Michael grimaced once he noticed the shocked expression Kyle's face gained once his eyes landed on Max, because in his experience, no one, not even Isabel was as big of a mother hen as Kyle Valenti…

And I bet it doesn't help his mood that Tess is pulling into the parking space next to us with a big grin on her face, Michael thought with a soundless, but heartfelt sigh as he tried helping Max out of the Jeep without letting the prouder male know that that was what he was doing.

"Come on, Maxwell; Kyle seems to want to chat. Tess, would you mind trying to see if you can calm Maria and the others down a bit when you go see them? It seems like you're the only one they're not pissed at right now."

The curly haired blonde smiled, visibly happy to be asked to lend a hand. "Sure; I'll do my best, Michael."

Michael watched her leave, momentarily ignoring Max's hoarse whispered question to Isabel of why their loved ones were apparently extremely angry, thinking about how much might have been avoided in the other timeline if only they'd taken a moment to really get to know Tess Harding.

And also, Michael smirked briefly, before turning back to the present and a fast approaching Kyle, whose look of patience had evaporated the second Tess' presence had become an issue, I could've gotten that awesome scrambled eggs recipe a lot earlier. Truly a lot of wasted years there.

Max's POV

"…really need to take something more to eat than that pathetic excuse of a sandwich," Kyle's reproving voice washed over Max as he sat, trying not to let his exhaustion show too much during the lunch break.

Even after sleeping for so long, and so deeply that no dreams or haunted memories even made an appearance for once, Max felt truly drained. Realistically he knew he'd had a real close call this time, but as his eyes trailed over the table in the other end of the quad, where Tess sat smiling with Liz, Maria and Alex, Max didn't regret a thing.

This time around, Tess would be a great ally and after what had transpired between them, Max had no doubt that her loyalty for the Royal Four had cemented itself completely.

Now all we have to worry about is everything else, Max sighed and took a bite of the soggy chicken sandwich in his hands, pleasing Kyle who finally turned away to stare covertly at Isabel, who was gazing longingly over at Alex.

Out of the corner of his eye, Max caught the sight of a familiar flash of blonde, and barely managed to keep in a groan of frustration. I completely forgot about her, he thought, his eyes following Kathleen Topolsky's form as she walked quietly through the quad.

"I gotta take care of that," Max murmured, nodding discreetly in the F.B.I. agent's direction. Kyle, Isabel and Michael all turned to look at him with varying degrees of worry clear on their faces.

"We can wait for a few days," said Isabel. "Tess told me what kind things Nasedo did to her place and office to keep her from running back to Pierce."

"Yeah," Michael took over, almost as if they'd rehearsed the conversation beforehand, "according to Tess, Nasedo had her so freaked out that she doesn't even dare breathe out of order so we can afford to take a brief break; recharge and stuff."

Kyle rolled his eyes, "Oh sure, if Tess says so, it must be true. Why don't we just let things be until she figures out her nemesis is gone and begins to contact her boss so he can come and kill all of you in your sleep."

"You're being a bit overdramatic there, Buddy," Michael said, when it was clear that Max wasn't going to interfere with his point of view. "I know there's history there when it comes to Tess, but you gotta understand that that girl isn't the one we knew. In fact she's-"

Kyle held up a hand, looking extremely annoyed, even a little bit betrayed, "If you say she's a great girl, Guerin, I'm going to have to hurt you."

"Stop," Max ordered when Michael and Isabel took in breaths to continue what would more than likely have turned into a massive discussion that would've drawn the wrong kind of attention to them all.

Max turned his eyes on Kyle, who didn't seem to like the look in his eyes and quickly averted his own down to the table, as if he was a small child being reprimanded by a parent. "I promised Tess we'd include her. She's not the one we all knew and if I can see that, you have to at least try to do the same. We came here to make things better and save a lot of lives, so please try and focus on that instead of events that won't happen here."

Max took a deep breath and then looked over at his fellow hybrids, who were watching him intensely, automatically allowing his words to wash over them like they'd done so many times before when their lives had been at stake, "I'm going to talk to Kathleen and see if she's willing to forgive and forget. We could use someone on the inside of Pierce's people; especially now that Nasedo is in L.A with Cal and won't be infiltrating them as originally planned. We need that Unit closed down and ridiculed so it won't gain any more power. I'll debrief you all later."

And with that, Max slowly got up, unconsciously pulling out some of the strength he'd used when going in to battle in the past, forcing his fatigue away as if it'd never even been an issue. He was vaguely aware that his fellow students were eying him with a mixture of confusion and awe, but he didn't care about any of it and just quickly followed in Kathleen's footsteps until he reached her small office and knocked on her door.

He entered when he heard her giving permission and couldn't keep his surprise completely out of his face once he got the first real look of the agent in days. She looked haunted; there wasn't any better word for it.

I wish Tess could tell me what exactly Nasedo has put Kathleen through while we've been busy, Max pondered, feeling a refueled desire to go after the older alien and force him to spill everything, so he could somehow help the pale looking woman in front of him – and keep her from spilling everything to Pierce when she gets the first opportunity. Max added a little cynically to himself, the realistic part of him not foolish or naïve enough to believe she wouldn't try such a thing if she didn't trust them.

In the next second, Max felt like an idiot, because he suddenly remembered the memories that had been dropped over to him from Nasedo just the day before and tried to pull them to the forefront of his mind to go over them in search of any kind of answers.

Kathleen's emotionless voice brought Max back to the present with a small start. "What can I do for you, Max?"

"Do you want to be free?"

The question startled the blonde woman and she had a short moment where she looked like a fish out of water, but then she got her expression under control and Max deemed it safe to continue.

"I've sent Nasedo away for now. He won't be in charge of you any longer and frankly, the way you've been treated disgusts me. I also know that I can't let you go when you know so much about me and mine."

Kathleen swallowed at his words, soundlessly showing her agreement to his words and Max kept on talking, "I'm not a bad person. None of us are out to conquer the earth and make humanity our slaves. In fact, I'm half human and what I know of my original home isn't something that I'm proud of. I consider myself human and all I want to do is to live a normal life with the people I love. If you tell Pierce about us, he's going to torture us all individually; even our human friends aren't safe from that. When he's done, he's either going to kill us or put us in an underground bunker where scientist can prod us until we grow old and die."

It was clear that the fact that Max spoke so calmly about what was in store for him, was something Kathleen didn't like and she broke eye contact to look down at her folded hands instead.

"I…" she started hesitantly before looking back up with sincerity shining in her eyes, "I'm not a fan of Pierce's methods, Max. I joined his crew because he made it sound like a matter of life and death; survival of the species if you will. I know everything about him and even if I give you my word to never reveal anything I've discovered, I don't doubt for a second that he's going to come at you some other way. He's a dangerous man, Max."

Max smiled and sat down gingerly at the nearest chair; unable to contain his exhaustion anymore. "Yeah, well; so am I…"

"I owe you my life," Kathleen spoke softly, looking genuinely thankful despite her time as a prisoner at Nasedo's hands. "I know that most of what I thought about this entire mission is wrong. But I don't want to betray my country either. The people have a right to know, because if you're here; what's next? Who's next? And also," Kathleen's lip twisted into a rueful smile, "I'm scared he'll kill me if I don't report back to him as soon as I can."

"I understand that," and Max truly did. He would probably have done the same thing if he'd been in her shoes, but still; he had his family to protect so he wasn't going to just let the agent go…but he really didn't want to kill her either. I've had enough of killing for now, Max thought, ignoring the flash of Hubble's unseeing eyes as he lay dead on the ground.

"So where do we go from here?" Kathleen's voice hitched a little bit; her fear of his decision unable to be held entirely at bay.

An unexpected solution suddenly struck Max with a clarity that he hadn't experienced in a while. The memory of the last time he'd gotten the same idea fluttered through his mind and made him smile gently.

"I've never tried this before, but maybe I can make the connection go the other way, so you can see, you know that…that I'm still me."

"I have a suggestion that could prove the answer to everything." Max explained further, when he saw that Kathleen looked relieved rather than suspicious – evidently, he'd managed to get her to trust him even if just a tiny bit. "I have this ability to get inside people's heads and see their memories and the way they're feeling and stuff. It's kind of difficult to explain, but I can sort of compare it to the thing that Spock does in Star Trek."

Kathleen's lips twitched into a real smile at the joke, and nodded for him to continue. "I can turn the connection around so that you can see a part of me; see for real that underneath it all, I'm just an ordinary kid." An ordinary kid who's lived about three times, killed and tortured and travelled through time and space to save everyone he cares about, Max's sardonic inner voice pointed out, but Max ignored it with an ease that came with a lot of practice.

To his immense relief, Kathleen didn't look put off by his idea; in fact she looked interested. "And this will help me in deciding whether or not I will remain loyal to you of my own free will?"

Max nodded.

"And if I still want to go to Pierce, what then?"

Max just stared at her, consciously letting his soldier mask fall into place on his face. Kathleen flinched and Max hurried to say, with as much heartfelt regret as he could manage in just a few words, "I have to protect those I love. And if you want me to, I'll protect you as intensely as them."

"Are you going to kill me, Max?" Kathleen's own professional mask slid into place, and Max's respect for the operative gained a few inches. She really is a very brave woman, he thought sadly.

"Honestly, I don't know," Max answered, deciding to speak the truth. "Tess has this gift to make people believe things that aren't real; make them forget…"

Kathleen paled an unseemly shade of beige, leaving her with an unbecoming green tint and Max allowed the guilt to pierce through his chest. He really didn't like ultimatums; it made him feel like he was a bit too much like Nasedo.

"So…I'd forget my family and everything?"

"You'd be a totally new person." Max replied.

There was a long silence that grew in tension with every soft click of the clock on the wall behind Kathleen. Finally, the F.B.I. agent sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Well, I guess it beats being dead, which is what'll happen if Pierce no longer has any use of me and I know I'd already have died if it wasn't for you and your friends…So; this mind meld thing you're talking about, how does that work exactly? Does it hurt?"

Max shook his head and carefully got back to his feet to walk the last few steps over to Kathleen, who was sitting behind her cluttered desk. "No; but I have to touch you and have eye contact for it to work properly though."

Kathleen nodded and gestured for him to come closer; "Fine, for what it's worth, I really hope this gives me a clear idea of what to do."

"Yeah," Max smiled, reaching out and placing his hands on the blonde's cheeks; reminding him again of the first time he'd done this with Liz so very long ago, "me too, Kathleen. Me too."

Liz's POV

It had now been three days since Liz had stormed out of Tess' house; she hadn't spoken to any of the hybrids since then, except for Tess of course.

It was quite funny really that Tess, who'd only lived in Roswell for a short time had already implemented herself as one of Liz's closest friends. Whereas before it had always been Liz, Maria and Alex; Tess was now a full part of their little tight knit group of friends.

But aside from her, Liz had completely avoided the rest of them; even going so far as making her dad change her shift at the Crash so she didn't have to work with Isabel.

She told herself that she wasn't being childish, that she was just giving them all the space for their obvious secrets that they evidently craved so much, but even Liz's internal lies had a hollow tint to them. The truth was she was extremely tempted to go up to Max a few days before when he'd sat with his sister, Michael and Kyle in the quad eating lunch.

He'd still looked ill there was no better word for it and then he'd walked away without even looking at her, something that had sent a spike of annoyance and sadness through her. And today at school, he'd spent most of the time in the guidance counselor's office along with Michael and Isabel, so she hadn't seen him much and what frightened her a little, even though she barely acknowledged the feeling to herself, was the fact that their connection; their bond was almost silent.

Liz hadn't felt anything substantial from his end since before he'd fallen unconscious after saving Tess' life. And Liz was beginning to feel forgotten and she hated that. Especially since she was still maintaining her silence towards the trio of hybrids, so Max really should have come to her now to explain things or at least tell her that he was okay.

Well, enough is enough; Liz thought as she walked up to her room after her after school shift. She quickly showered to get that fried food smell off of her and changed into her favorite pajamas. I want to talk to him about everything before there's too much distance between us…I want him to trust me enough to let me in on all of his secrets.

Liz smiled a little at the thought, that her almost boyfriend's smallest secret was that he was an alien. Some would probably say that was the biggest one to have, but Liz knew differently. When she'd told Maria a little about her theory of the trio's secrets, the short haired blonde had vehemently agreed, saying something about managing to get Michael to confess at least that much.

She'd thought over her options in regards to get Max alone long enough to talk, and had originally decided to try and send true terror through the bond to catch his attention, knowing him well enough by now to know that he'd drop whatever it was he was doing and come running to her supposed rescue.

Since it was a pretty evil thing to do to someone, Liz had quickly pushed the idea away and tried to come up with something less unethical. Finally, just as she'd spotted Isabel come in for her evening shift, Liz realized that she needed to go simple with this and stop overcomplicating things so much and just go seek him out at home.

Liz finished brushing her hair and sat on the edge of her bed, trying to figure out when would be the best time to visit Max. She glanced at her watch, feeling too restless to do much of anything. In the end, Liz pulled out a clean pair of jeans and a sweater from her dresser, changed back out of her pajamas and wrote a quick note about going for a walk so that her mom wouldn't worry if she poked her head in to check on her later in the evening and found her missing.

A few minutes later, Liz had scaled down the fire escape from her terrace with a practiced ease and was making her way to Max's house to clear the air for once and for all.

About twenty minutes later, Liz reached her destination, rang the doorbell and hit her first roadblock. What do I say if his parents open the door? It's too late for a study session and it'll be too lame an excuse to say I forgot to give him some notes when I'll see him tomorrow in school anyway…

Liz was so absorbed in her worrying that she barely noticed the door being opened and it was only the jolt of pure surprise that flashed through her bond that told her that it was indeed Max who'd opened the door.

"Max! Hi!" Cringing in embarrassment at her loud greeting, Liz looked down at the ground.

"Liz…" the confused surprise in Max's tone was obvious, "what's wrong? Did something happen? Is someone hurt?"

Liz quickly looked up at the sound of growing fear in Max's voice and stepped closer, holding out a hand to pacify him from panicking. "No, nothing's wrong. Don't jump to conclusions, okay Max. I wouldn't show up without calling you if something like that had happened, I promise."

"Oh." Rarely speaking Max seemed to be making a rapid comeback and Liz refrained from rolling her eyes and just sent him a glowing smile that she didn't have to see to know looked fake.

"Anyway, I was out walking and wanted to know if you'd come walk with me? We could talk or something…"

Max was going to refuse; Liz just knew it and was preparing some kind of Plan B, when Max's mother suddenly appeared behind him, smiling widely at her. "He'd just love to; isn't that right, Max?"

Before long, Max was standing next to Liz out on the doorstep, looking a little bit baffled as to exactly how that had happened, while Liz was just happy that most mothers turned into wanna be matchmakers once their kids reached a certain age.

They started walking down the quiet street; the night's darkness only broken by a few lampposts every few feet. Liz kept running through ways to start the conversation, but fell short every time she looked up at Max's blank face.

Finally, Liz had had enough and increased her speed enough to get a little ahead of Max and turned around, stopping him abruptly in his tracks. "Look we need to talk, Max."

"Okay."

"I mean, I know you're probably gonna be against it and- wait, what?" Liz frowned in confusion, it seemed a little too easy to her.

Max shrugged and gestured over at a nearby bench so they could sit down and be comfortable. Once seated next to each other, he straightened up and looked Liz right in the eye. "I owe you an apology."

He continued before Liz could even fully comprehend what he was saying, "I know that I didn't do the best job in making sure that you didn't feel what was going on this last week and I'm sorry if I scared you. We all are."

"I know, but…" Liz trailed off, staring at a piece of gum stuck on the barely visible pavement, not really knowing how to continue now that she'd gotten so far. Max's warm fingers took a gentle hold of her chin and lifted it upwards so he could look her in the eyes.

"I get that you hate that you don't know everything, but please just trust me on this; it would ruin everything if I told you. I want you to enjoy your life and be happy."

What can be so horrible that you don't want to share it with me, Max? Liz wondered silently suddenly desperate for that eerie look in his dark brown eyes to disappear.

"How can I be happy, knowing that you're not?" The soft spoken question escaped her lips without her consent, but once it was out, Liz couldn't make herself take it back. Instead, she just observed every little miniscule movement around Max's eyes that told her clearly that he hadn't expected her to say something like that.

After a beat of concentrated silence, Max closed his eyes for a second and Liz worried that she'd upset him, but then he reopened his eyes and the fire that burned in them roared right through Liz's entire being, scorching her and warming her in places she hadn't even known to be cold.

"Oh Liz," Max's voice was like liquid velvet and his hand on her chin moved to her cheek, caressing the shell of her lower ear in the process. "But I am happy, don't you see that? Every morning I wake up and feel you through the bond, I smile with true bliss. And knowing I'm here with you right now, secrets be damned, that's all I need. I love you more than anything in the world."

Max froze as soon as the declaration left his mouth and Liz felt a quick stab of adrenaline fueled fear rush through their connection before it was squashed ruthlessly from his end. Obviously he didn't mean to say it, Liz realized somberly, even as small dabs of giddiness ran through her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Max removed his hand and now he was the one to look away, staring just as entranced at the same piece of gum that Liz had found so fascinating only moments earlier.

All of a sudden it seemed as though all of Liz's previous thoughts and feelings towards Max's secrets didn't matter anymore; all she wanted was to get him to look at her again. Liz acted before her rational self could charge in and overpower her senses, placing her hands on Max's cheeks and turning his head toward her.

"Liz, what-?" Max sounded so adorably bewildered that Liz nearly laughed, but instead, she just leaned forward and pressed her lips to his in a gentle and caring kiss that was very different from the fiery one they'd shared in the cave when they'd reopened their bond.

Liz only allowed herself a brief, chaste kiss before pulling back to stare deeply into Max's widened eyes. Before he could regain his control of the situation, Liz shook his head carefully and said the words she'd longed to say for quite some time.

"I love you too."

The smile that broke out on Max's usually so emotionless face was almost painfully beautiful in Liz's opinion. His eyes lit up with the same fire from before, but this time it was like an eruption from a volcano. His almost childlike joy and overpowering love flowed unchecked into Liz from his side of the bond, bathing her in warmth from the inside out.

It was as if something had been missing and only now found again and Liz couldn't stop herself from matching his emotions with her own.

"Say it again," Max's voice sounded almost begging in his request and Liz couldn't deny him even if she wanted to and she really didn't want to.

"I love you, Max Evans. I love you." Liz didn't get a chance to say anything else, because before she could take another breath, Max had slanted his lips over hers in a breathtaking kiss that very nearly erased every thought from her mind.

As long as we love each other, we'll get through whatever it is that's hurting him so much, Liz thought dazedly and twined her fingers into Max's thick dark hair and when he returned the gesture, wrapping his muscled arms fully around her, Liz didn't think about anything else for a long time. She just hoped that everyone was feeling as wonderful as she was at that point in time.

Kathleen's POV:

"So, Agent Topolsky," the voice was saccharine sweet and full of an underlying coldness that had sent braver people than her running for their lives, "let's see if I got this right, shall we?"

The tall, dark shadow came a little bit closer to the strapped down form of Kathleen, who didn't have to see the man speaking to recognize him as Special Agent Pierce.

"You want me to believe that your disappearing act from your mission was due to the fact that the kids discovered your identity? And then they just let you go? They're vile animals so I sincerely doubt that they have any capacity for mercy."

They have more than you, Kathleen thought exhaustedly, wisely remaining silent. The throbbing pain from the 'session' she'd just endured was enough to keep her on her toes. It would be extremely stupid if she was killed now that she'd gotten so far.

Special Agent Pierce's voice sounded again, bringing the aching blonde back to the present with a bit of difficulty, "I want you to tell me everything."

"I can't tell you anything else than that. They let me go," Kathleen rasped out with a struggle when it became clear that he expected some kind of verbal response.

Suddenly, Pierce's face was right in front of hers, and Kathleen would've flinched backwards if she hadn't been unable to move. The smile on his admittedly handsome face scared Kathleen more than the real torture she knew she was still in for did.

"We'll see about that," his voice still full of fake sweetness, "I will break you and if you can be used after that I will build you back up. You have let me down, Agent Topolsky and I don't like being disappointed. Trust me on this; I will know everything you do before I decide what to do with you."

Kathleen swallowed harshly, her fear sending shivers down her spine. The memory of Max's reassuring voice the last time they'd spoken went through her mind and she focused on that instead of the team of lab coat wearing people that began filtering back in to the small white room she was being kept in.

"Once the pain starts, Kathleen; close your eyes and think of what you're fighting for; it may not be a perfect cure, but it will help you. I swear to you that when the time is right, I'll let you help me kill Pierce. You deserve that."

Kathleen's lip turned up into a macabre parody of a smile and she locked eyes with the nearest torturer. He paled and turned to Pierce, who looked down at Kathleen with a small hint of admiration, not knowing his latest victim was fantasying about the way she would end his miserable life.

Let's hope your plan works, Max, Kathleen managed to think as the first piercing slash appeared on her pale skin and she broke into a hoarse scream.

TBC…


	22. Kyle, Michael, Liz and Pierce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pierce is not a very nice man...

CHAPTER TWENTYTWO

Kyle's POV

It was the middle of the day and Kyle was sitting in the middle of the quad alone for once; having sought out some much needed solitude by waiting until Max and the others had left.

The sun was warming him up, ailing him with its gentle warmth.

Kyle exhaled deeply as the bell rang and took away the rare moment of serenity he'd managed to achieve.

"Well," he muttered as he threw away the trash from his barely eaten lunch and got to his feet, "at least I managed to sleep a full eight hours tonight so that's a good thing."

Ever since that night in Frazier Woods where he'd woken up, been born or travelled through time and space or whatever it was, Kyle had discovered one crucial thing; his younger body and mind hadn't been able to handle the sudden onslaught of excruciating memories and he'd woken up screaming more times already than he'd done while actually living through the time itself.

And after barely two months, it was starting to affect him physically as well. Kyle rarely looked in a mirror anymore; the bags under his eyes weren't a good look on him, something he knew very well from experience. He'd begun losing some of the meat on his bones - opting instead to spend the worst nights exercising to an almost brutal degree alongside a stone-faced Max, who never pushed him to talk and just shared his silent strength with him.

Kyle was still crashing at Max' house and the added tension that was the strained relationship he now shared with the father he'd all but idolized in his old life, wasn't helping him sleep.

And then there's the whole suddenly accepting Tess thing, Kyle thought as he walked towards class and spotted the curly-haired hybrid chatting amiably with Liz, Maria and Alex. I know she's innocent here, but I just can't be myself around her... At least not yet, he amended, trying to convince himself that eventually it would happen.

Another now familiar sight brought Kyle back to the present and he smiled sadly, allowing himself to let his feelings show since he was sure no one was watching him.

As he watched, Isabel walked up to Alex and practically beamed at him, looking more beautiful than Kyle had ever seen.

Memories of a certain day pressed his boundaries, trying to escape from the part of his brain where he usually kept it all locked iron-tight.

Naked skin, sweat covered bodies, warmth and ferocity all mixed into one in rejoicing that they weren't dead like so many other. A weeping Isabel, sorrow and fresh guilt aging her prematurely, a repeated litany of "I'm sorry, Kyle - please don't shut me out" echoed through his mind and Kyle was actually relieved when he accidentally bumped into one of his former friends, Johnny.

"Whoa, Weirdo," Johnny sneered looking down his nose at him, "just 'cause we used to hang doesn't mean you can come anywhere near me. Besides aren't you like all gay for Evans these days?"

Kyle never felt his added maturity more than in these kinds of situations, but in order to blend in he swallowed an annoyed sigh and acted like he was gravely insulted.

Besides, Kyle reasoned as things quickly escalated and Johnny pushed him into the nearby lockers with a bang, this way I'll blow off some steam.

Sadly, the fight didn't last long enough to quell the restlessness growing inside of him, because only a few moments later, Michael and Max appeared out of nowhere and pulled Johnny away from him.

"Kyle! What the hell?" Michael asked, turning the slightly smaller human around to face him. "Are you out of your mind?"

"No," panted Kyle, wiping the sweat off his forehead, trying to infuse himself with his earlier serenity, "I'm known for being a popular jock that hung out with Johnny and the others, but I guess I forgot the teenage pecking order. I couldn't back down without escalating things even more, so if you got a problem then bite me!"

Kyle ripped his arm out of Michael's grip and turned to leave, but froze when his eyes locked with Isabel's from across the now deathly quiet quad.

For a second, her beautiful eyes shone with the same hint of memories that he'd just unwillingly lived through and he didn't quite know if he wanted her to come over to him to finally clear the air or just leave him the hell alone.

Then Alex gently placed a hand on Isabel's shoulder and she turned to answer his soft spoken question.

If she turned back to look at him, Kyle didn't know, because as soon as her eyes left his, he had disappeared inside the school.

0o0o0

Later that day, after dodging his friends and even a call to the principal's office, Kyle was unable to avoid a confrontation any longer.

It was Michael, who eventually took his arm and began pulling him out to the parking lot, where Max and Isabel were waiting.

Seeing Isabel in the distance recharged Kyle's anger and abruptly, he tore his arm out of Michael's grip, "let me go, Man," he all but hissed and took a few steps backwards. "I'm gonna walk today."

"Dude," Michael wasn't deterred in the least; a trait Kyle normally found very respectable, but today it was just plain annoying. "What's up with you today? You're acting like a younger version of me and it's not that attractive. You don't have that Guerin charm to pull it off."

"Stop being an idiot," Kyle growled, not in the least bit amused, "I'm having a shitty day and I don't want you Pod Squads to put your noses into it, all right!"

Michael frowned and straightened up, subconsciously letting his General persona bleed over in his younger body; obviously he too was no longer amused. "Kyle, you're a close friend so I won't kick your ass, but get over yourself for a minute. We all have bad days."

"Yeah," Kyle retorted, refusing to let his guilt keep him from speaking his mind, "but you've got someone to share it with. Maria is your other half and you got her back. Max got Liz and Isabel's got...well..."

Michael's face suddenly dawned with understanding and Kyle almost hated him for the flash of pity he sported before he regained control of his facial features.

"Not one word," Kyle warned, holding up a hand.

"She was never-" Michael started but then stopped at the look he received for his troubles. Michael was after all, the only one who'd ever known the whole truth.

"I'm handling it," Kyle said, after a beat of uncomfortable silence, "I guess it just hit me a little harder today than normally. I just don't want to talk about it, it drives me insane..."

Michael sighed and just ran a hand through his already ruffled hair. "I'm just worried about you, Valenti. It's not healthy carrying it all inside like you've been doing."

"Yeah well," Kyle shrugged and turned to leave, "I'm managing and besides, I had my shot to be with her and she didn't want me; hell, I even died for her so…Anyway, I'm gonna take off, gotta blow off some steam before I wind up doing something we'll all regret."

"Kyle," Michael held out a hand to halt his leaving and Kyle looked at him tiredly. "You didn't see her after you," the hybrid quickly checked his surroundings for any possible listeners before proceeding quietly, "died. I mean, she was a complete mess and one of the reasons that she was on board with this whole granolith time jumping scheme, was because of you."

Kyle smiled and he couldn't help but look over Michael's shoulder at the woman they were talking about, before he met Michael's eyes again with a sigh. "That may be so, but I'm not the main reason, am I?"

Michael didn't respond to that, like Kyle knew he wouldn't and at long last he managed to get away from his friend. Only to stop a few minutes later, when he'd grabbed his bag in his locker as he realized that unlike everyone else, he really didn't have a place to go right now. If I go to Max's house, I'll run into Isabel and I can't face her right now without making things worse for the both of us, Kyle thought, scratching his stomach as it itched, until an idea struck him.

I can go work out for a bit and then crash at Michael's later, Kyle decided, remembering that Michael's emancipation from Hank had finally been finalized and he'd moved into his "new" apartment just one week earlier, and made his way to the small gym that Roswell High had.

Fortunately for Kyle's peace of mind, it was empty for once, so he didn't have to worry about anyone wondering just what had happened to the school's wrestling champion in regards to his changed muscle mass and form.

How long Kyle spent in that room he didn't know, but when his knees were shaking and the sweat pouring off of him reminded him that he needed some form of liquid so he didn't crash and burn, he slowly stopped and walked towards the soda machine that he vaguely remembered being a big part of his first time as a carefree teen.

Kyle was so deeply focused on just getting something to drink and not think about anything else that he reached the coveted machine, only to realize that he didn't have any cash. Why didn't my powers travel with me to this place? He wondered sourly, slamming his sweaty hand on the glass, half considering just tipping the whole damn thing over and be done with it.

Then, Tess' voice startled him right back to reality and Kyle froze. "I can help you, if you'd like?"

Kyle slowly turned his head, a mantra of 'she's not evil, she's not evil', running through his mind as he forced out some semi-polite refusal.

Tess' disappointment was poignant and Kyle actually felt like it was pouring through him and he barely managed to avoid rolling his eyes at himself; he'd left his empathic ways and Buddhism behind even before he'd gotten himself killed to save Isabel and Max.

"You know, Kyle," Tess' eyes forced him to meet hers in that unique way of hers that he'd all but forgotten, "I know that I did a horrible thing to you and I'm sorry."

Kyle's insides froze for a second with pure fear; does she know what she made me do back then? Has she returned as well? But then Tess continued softly and Kyle's worries were put to rest for the moment.

"Wiping your memories of that day in the computer lab with your friend was a rash decision, but at the time, I truly believed that you couldn't handle the truth about us. And now, I know that I was wrong and I really would like you to give me another chance; I mean, we were sort of becoming friends and I'd like that to be the case again."

We were more than friends; we were family, the thought filtered through Kyle's conflicted mind, but even as the words echoed inside him, something didn't feel right about that statement anymore and he frowned, quickly pushing the confusion feelings aside to concentrate on the present.

"I'm a guy who can carry a grudge and…" Kyle swallowed through the part of him that still didn't want to see past Tess' old self and continued with an inwardly grimace, "…Look, I'm stubborn and anyone can tell you this about me- Anyway, my point is that I need to stew a little but then we'll probably be okay again."

"Don't." Tess' eyes narrowed and Kyle almost wanted to take a step back at the heat in her gaze. "I'm not stupid; I've been putting up with a lot of weird treatment from Max and the others until they finally seemed to realize that we're supposed to be friends; a family. I'd like you to take a note out of their book and forgive me and let me back in. I don't need your half-hearted stalling and promises, Kyle; I just need my friend back. And when that happens, I might even get you to stop feeling so hurt and bitter about Isabel being in love with Alex all the time."

"How did you-?" Kyle began, but was interrupted quickly by Tess' tinkling laughter before she answered him with her head tilted to the side, almost as if she was inspecting him for something.

"Please, you're very easy to read once one knows what to look for, Kyle and for some reason I do. So here's a little piece of advice whether you want it or not; I'm a good person and I like you and I like Isabel, but you two clearly aren't meant to be and you need to get over that and enjoy your life instead of making everyone miserable. I mean, aren't you the happy go lucky guy that welcomed the new girl and made her welcome when almost everyone else were too busy gossiping about her? Also, I know what it's like falling for a guy who's most definitely in love with another girl; and if I can get over it, so can you."

And with that, Tess left and Kyle honestly didn't know what to think or feel anymore. It's like she's taken all my thoughts and cut right through them to the core, he pondered as he began to walk out of the school's grounds. She's right; I need to stop obsessing over things that can't be changed. She reminds me of the Tess that lived with me for so long and knew me better than anyone. The one who didn't sleep with Max and ruin everything with her obsession to become Max's mate; the one that I loved…before she turned into the sister I never had, Kyle quickly amended, scratching his itchy stomach and chest, somehow feeling both tired and excited and thoughtful all at the same time.

Michael's POV

Michael ran a hand through his hair and groaned as his muscles protested the movement. I guess sitting cooped up in the same position for so long can do that to even the best of us, he thought and briefly debated asking a very focused looking Max at his side to help him out a bit, but decided against it when he noticed that his friend was looking so intently at his screen that he might end up blowing up all the lights in the room if he was startled out of his zone.

"Not to sound weird or anything," Kyle's whispered voice reached him and Michael turned his head a fraction to look at the human, "but I'll rub your neck if you rub mine, Dude."

The smile on the sheriff's son was genuine and he no longer looked like he had a severe wish to lash out at everybody and Michael couldn't help but respond with a smile of his own, politely declining the offer with the one fingered salute.

I wonder what got through to him, Michael wondered, eying his friend through the corner of his eye as his fingers nimbly typed away busy with his own self-appointed assignment, when I talked to him yesterday, he still acted like everyone was against him. But I'm glad he's somewhat back to himself though.

Kyle had burst through Michael's door the day before, several hours after school, looking haggard and tired, but he hadn't worn his almost signature look of bitterness and subtle antagonism anymore. It was like he'd been through a mood changing machine and so, when Michael had raised a brow and told him to go get something to eat and Kyle hadn't given him the one fingered salute in response, he figured things were finally getting back to normal.

And I'm not rocking that boat by asking him what made him chill out, Michael thought and turned to look at the screen that Max was busy typing away at.

"Found anything yet?"

Max nodded distractedly and continued typing ferociously; Michael straightened up with eagerness overtaking his fatigue instantly. It would be their first real lead on that issue if they succeeded and they really needed to tie up this loose end before it came to bite them in the ass like the last time.

Michael and Kyle waited with baited breath for a few agonizing minutes, before Michael's patience couldn't take it anymore and he snapped, "Maxwell, care to share with the class?"

Max stopped his fervent typing and looked at Michael. "I followed their last known foster homes and went from there; Isabel dream walked me last night to see if she could get some of my memories to the forefront of my mind so I'd remember better and I finally got something and I think I know where they are right now. What about you guys?"

Michael leaned back and let Kyle take over, silently happy that they'd gotten somewhere too, "We've found the town again and after a bit of digging it's obvious that they're already settled in and preparing the harvest just like last time. Maybe we'll catch them unaware this time around. Michael and I were thinking we'd sit down tonight and figure out the best way to go about destroying those damn husks again, so you and Iz might be needed for some basic grunt work."

Nodding in agreement, Michael added, "I've found Courtney's last known address and thought we should look her up before she comes to town. Or," Michael shrugged, "I mean, it's not even sure she's coming to Roswell this time 'cause we haven't really done anything and the signal that got sent out last time by the Pods haven't been sent this time and…well, I'm just not keen on getting her killed this time around if it can be avoided."

Max nodded solemnly, he clearly recalled how much help the Skin had been to them, despite her almost religious beliefs that Michael was the true leader.

I hope she's gonna see past that this time, Michael barely repressed a shudder at the memory of the times he'd been forced to take responsibility in Max's absence – the last time had all but killed him too in the original timeline during Max's captivity. I'm definitely a General, but I'm not the King.

"Well Guys," Kyle broke the tense silence, looking entirely too happy after having spent so much time looking bitter and sullen, "you know what this means, don't you?"

Michael and Max shared a bemused glance when Kyle continued with a grin, "Roadtrip this weekend! We just gotta decide where to go first though."

0o0o0

Going to New York in peacetime isn't at all like I've envisioned, Michael thought, looking around the passing buildings on their way out of Roswell very early the next Saturday morning.

Michael glanced to his side where a blank faced Kyle sat next to none other than Tess. The tension is so thick in here I could cut through it with a knife…Maria's face flooded through his mind and Michael sighed and leaned back in his seat, she'd know how to get us all loosened up; probably force Max to change the radio channel a hundred times and singing along to every song for ten seconds before humming some of her own songs instead in the end.

The memory of one of the very times such a thing had happened entered his mind, and Michael couldn't stop a small smile of genuine happiness slip over his face. Maybe this time it'll happen when we're on our honeymoon or something; or when we're taking a holiday or- whoa, stop it, Michael's more rational part interrupted his fantasies; she's barely seventeen years old and you're already planning your lives together. Do you want her to run away from you screaming? And have you forgotten that she's pretty rightfully pissed at you at this point in time?

Michael shook the thoughts of any possible marriage with his favorite blonde out of his head and decided to observe the other occupants in the Jeep as a decent tool of distraction from that last bit. Max was driving, silent and efficient as always; his every movement showed that he'd forgotten to act like a teenager for the time being, because he sat ramrod straight, scanning their surroundings rapidly as though scouting for any possible attacks.

Can't say that I blame him, Michael mused with an internal shrug, I'd probably be doing the same thing if I was the one behind the wheels. They'd lost too many friends to surprise attacks in the war and such a thing was never easy to shake off.

Screams for help that couldn't come in time, blood and guts all over his clothes and face marking him as one of the few survivors still standing- No, don't think about that, Michael valiantly forced the memory of that hideous day out of his mind and looked over at the former wife that he now considered a sister.

Isabel was sitting next to Max, supposedly reading a girly magazine, but her attention didn't seem to be on the shining pages at all since she'd been on the same page for the last ten minutes or so. Michael caught her looking discreetly at a slightly uncomfortable looking Kyle every now and again, but he chose not to comment on it.

And then there's Tess, Michael thought, glancing over at the fourth hybrid, still a bit surprised that she'd managed to gather an invite to the Big City as it were. Or invite might be pushing it, Michael thought with an internal smirk.

It had sort of happened by accident; Kyle had left to gather supplies for their trip once they'd finally decided where to go first and had then given Max and Michael the task of getting Isabel on board, since they'd need her for the trip as well to present an united front.

Michael had only been a slightly amused witness as he watched the curly haired hybrid somehow wrangle out information about their trip from Max, citing something about the fact that they'd all promised to include her and shortly after that, Tess had grabbed Isabel's wrist and dragged her away so they could pack, completely ignoring the protests that both Max and Isabel were giving.

It had been fun to watch, Michael reminisced with a small smile playing on his lips; and then she had to go and tell Maria and Liz about the trip as well and that's when things turned less fun and a lot more complicated.

Maria had been in her ace once she tracked him down later that very day; finally deeming him worthy of her presence again after the whole fiasco at Tess' house where she'd all but broken his nose with all of the flying porcelain, and had pulled him over into an unused classroom to ask why in the world, she and Liz weren't coming along as well.

Michael had blinked, thinking fast as to what kind of excuse would appeal the most to his (hopefully) future wife. But then, Maria had simply rolled her eyes and slapped his chest.

"Don't even bother, Spaceboy," the nickname caused a pleasant tingle in Michael's stomach that he tried not sending back through their connection to keep at least a little of his pride, "Tess told me all about you four gallivanting off to The Big Apple to confront some kind of mechanically engineered look a likes that some old book or something says are bound to be evil. I totally respect that and I even support that you need to go deal with that; I mean, one Michael Guerin is bad enough, I doubt I could handle another one."

Maria had smiled ruefully, but then her eyes had turned dark with some other emotion and Michael had known that she was far from as calm and collected as she seemed, "what I just don't understand however, is that apparently Kyle Valenti has gotten an invite. Kyle Freaking Valenti, Michael! He's the kid that used to pull down my pants in elementary school and laugh at me for wearing pink undies; the guy who's never acted like a decent human being unless it was to impress Liz! I just don't get why you all trust him and not us."

Maria had trailed off softly, looking away to hide her obvious displeasure and in that moment, Michael had finally realized that she was truly hurt that he and the others seemingly didn't trust her and Liz and Alex enough to let them come with them.

"It's not that we don't trust you," Michael had begun, itching to reach out and cup Maria's soft cheek in reassurance, "but this whole thing with Kyle is one of the things that I just can't talk about. I'm sorry and-"

"Don't even bother, Guerin," Maria had taken a step back, her face slipping into a cold mask that brought back haunting memories inside of Michael that he fought to push away immediately. "I guess we're just not that close after all. Have a nice trip."

Before the tall time traveler could manage much more than gawk in shock, Maria had vanished from his sight and the way all emotions suddenly seemed to dim down, told Michael that Liz had taught her a thing or two about maintaining privacy through the bond.

"Fuck," Michael had cursed and slammed his right hand straight through the nearest wall; unconsciously sending a pulse of his raw anger through his fingers and instantly demolishing the plaster.

A minute later, he'd vacated the classroom, a freshly fixed drywall behind him and a severely bleeding hand, which didn't hurt nearly as much as the disappointed glance Maria had sent him before she'd left.

"Michael," Tess' voice interrupted his reminiscing and Michael jolted back to the present, locking eyes with the blonde.

"What?" He immediately felt bad for snapping at her, but she seemed willing to ignore his bluntness and just nodded with her chin towards the window.

"Everyone's taking a bathroom break and a little pit stop for some fresh air; and since you've done nothing but stare miserably out the window for the last few hours, I figured you needed a break too." She sounded so genuine, which only made Michael feel even worse, until she added with a smirk so much like his own, "don't worry about it, Michael. Make it up to me by buying me some marshmallows and some Tabasco sauce and it's all in the past."

"That's a deal Harding," Michael grinned and a few minutes later, the two hybrids were enjoying themselves immensely by grabbing as many Snapples that they could safely carry; something that Tess enjoyed almost as much as Michael did and when they all returned to the jeep ten minutes later, Michael finally managed to push his feelings about his spat with Maria to the back of his mind for the time being.

Besides, he thought, stealing one of the Snapples that Tess had claimed for herself, I can't be distracted about that right now; I need all my attention on those bastards and not on anything else.

Liz's POV

"I'm telling you there's something going on that's potentially dangerous to everyone, but are we in the know? No we're not and it's bugging the hell out of me," Maria's voice rang through the phone line into a very tired Liz's ear.

In her defense, it was about the fifteenth time that day that she was listening to the same thing. Maria had a tendency to repeat herself when she was really angry.

"I know Maria; you're right, it does suck," Liz parroted the things she knew from vast experience that her best friend needed to hear and true to previous form, Maria quickly launched back into a heated diatribe about how everyone and most specifically Michael was at fault for all that was wrong with the world and Liz allowed her own thoughts to wander a bit.

I don't think they're doing this to deliberately hurt us, she thought, slowly getting up to stretch her legs, Max seemed as apologetic as Maria said Michael did when he told me and, Liz continued, biting her lip in worry as a memory from the other day passed through her open eyes, Michael did truly seem like he was more than sorry.

Liz had been speeding to her locker to grab the one book she'd forgotten for class and gotten a special hall pass to go get when she'd spotted Michael exiting one of the rarely used classrooms. The sight had momentarily blown every thought out of her head and she'd just stared in horror at the image in front of her.

Michael had walked slowly out of the classroom, looking briefly to either side before walking away, his right hand hanging limply down his side even as long trails of crimson blood traveled down his skin and left a ugly trail after him.

Liz had immediately spun around and run back to her AP English class that she shared with Max, bursting in with a distracted apology on her lips for her irritated teacher even as she bent down and told Max that Michael was injured. He'd left the classroom faster than should've been possible with nary an excuse for the now very befuddled educator standing forgotten by the blackboard.

The look that came over him the moment I told him about Michael is something I'll never forget and I really hope I'll never see it again, Liz thought with a shudder, releasing her now throbbing bottom lip from her teeth with a soft pop.

Liz had been tempted more than once to tell Maria what she'd seen, but in the end had decided against it to keep some semblance of calm in Maria's day.

"LIZ!" Maria's bellowing voice hurt Liz's unexpecting ear and she yelped and dropped the phone to rub her abused ear softly. She bent down and picked up the phone after a few soothing rubs.

"Maria!"

"You weren't even listening!" Maria accused in the other end, making Liz roll her eyes a little before she could control herself. "Don't roll your eyes at me, Parker!"

Guiltily, Liz stopped and sat down at her desk, not for the first time taken aback by her friend's seemingly psychic abilities. "Look, I'm sorry, Maria; but I can't really say anything that I haven't already pointed out. Why don't you just come over and watch some movies with me; I'll even call Alex and see if he's interested too?"

Maria hesitated, but declined with a dramatic huff before she sighed heavily and added quietly, "Aren't you sick of their secrets by now? I mean, I've promised not to snoop and I won't, but I truly feel like they think we're untrustworthy and besides changing his puppy dog look from you to Isabel, what's Kyle done to deserve their trust?"

"I don't know," Liz replied, glancing over at her poster of the solar system next to her closet. "But I think we just need to be patient and then they'll tell us everything soon enough."

"You're very annoying," Maria pointed out, "you sound so damn grown up all of the sudden; just because you and Max are all over each other lately…I just really feel like we're meant to be in the loop too, you know."

Knowing that saying anything else would probably just add fuel to the fire, Liz simply chuckled and before long the conversation ended with a Maria who said something about asking her mom to take her to her favorite fortuneteller to figure things out for her.

The silence after Maria hung up was almost choking Liz for some reason and she grabbed a pencil from her jug of writing utensils on her desk and took one of her post-it's and started writing; Going to New York abruptly – Tess hinted that it was to fight of some kind of clones.

Liz stared at the words for a long time, before her eyes narrowed and then, slowly, almost as though she was in a trance, she crossed out the word, 'clones' and wrote, 'Dupes', instead before getting up and going outside to the hiding place where she kept her journal and put in yet another note about her boyfriend's mysterious behavior.

Someday I will know everything, Liz thought resolutely, hiding the bulging journal in the slot before putting the brick back with an ease that came from a lot of practice. Max's flashes to me during our first few kisses told me that there's still a lot I need to know, but unlike Maria I'm done trying to ask them for answers; I'll find them all myself eventually.

A few seconds later, Liz's mother's voice sounded from the doorway and she quickly got back into her room and followed her mom down to dinner.

0o0o0

The next day was Sunday and Liz had barely slept all night, waking up every few minutes from vague nightmares about someone looking like Michael and Isabel trying to kill Max.

And the continuous feeling of unease and alertness from Max's end isn't really helping matters, Liz thought as she got out of her morning shower and got dressed.

When she got down to the diner and stole a few donuts for breakfast, her dad took one look at her and sent her out for a walk in an attempt to make her feel better. I guess, I do look a little pale, Liz thought and glanced at her reflection in her spoon, but she just shrugged it off, knowing the reason for that and the bags under her eyes as well and did as her dad told her to.

The sky was filled with dark clouds and Liz quickly regretted her obedience when the first few drops fell about thirty minutes later and she was nowhere near her house. And I didn't even bring a decent coat, she lamented fruitlessly as she held her hands over her head for some meager semblance of shelter from the continuous drops falling on her with more and more power.

It didn't take long before she was completely drenched and Liz really wished for some kind of miracle when all of the sudden a police car drove by and pulled into the curve a few feet further ahead. The passenger seat opened in a silent invitation and Liz hurried inside and turned to send her rescuer a beaming smile.

"Thank you so much, I was almost drowning out there and…" Liz trailed off as her eyes caught up with her mouth and she recognized the new addition to Sheriff Valenti's team; Deputy Fisher.

Deputy Fisher was a good looking man, with an air of friendliness about him and he never forgot his southern manners whenever out in public. He always tipped his hat politely whenever Liz serviced him at the Crashdown. She had even witnessed him climb up a tree to rescue old Mrs. Peterson's elderly – and extremely fat – cat Mr. Pippin a few weeks ago; charming her with friendly smiles even as the feline scratched his face something fierce.

And still; there was just something about him that didn't sit well with the clever brunette. He smiles with his lips but not his eyes, she thought not for the first time as the dark haired deputy did just that.

"Well, Miss Parker, I couldn't with good conscience let a pretty little one like you catch a cold. Colds are dreadful things to overcome after all." His charming smile sending inexplicable chills down Liz's spine.

"Err…right," she murmured uncomfortably. "Anyway, it's really nice of you, Sir."

"Think nothing of it, Miss Parker," and there was that smile yet again, Liz noticed before he turned his attention back to the road, "what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't help out wherever I could."

They drove for a few minutes in silence; something Liz was profoundly happy for since she truly didn't know how to react to the man – she quickly decided to let her instincts guide her since they'd never steered her wrong before when he finally did open his mouth and asked a bit too casually for it to seem sincere.

"So; I've been seeing that Evans boy around you a lot lately. Your Daddy says you're all but glued together these days."

"Yeah," Liz shrugged awkwardly, fiddling with a loose thread on her wet shirt. "We're together a lot, I can't deny that."

"So…" Fisher's voice took on an edge that sent warning signals to Liz, "where is he this weekend? I haven't seen him or his sister around – or that other boy that always hangs around them."

For the first time in a long time, Liz was truly happy that Max and the others secrets weren't hers yet, because she had a sudden feeling that if she knew more then she might not get out of the car anytime soon. And even what little I do know, I'm not gonna tell you, she sent out, wordlessly defying the older guy next to her, who was still wearing a much too nonchalant expression on his face for it to be real.

"Well I heard him and Michael talking about going camping this weekend with Sheriff Valenti's son, Kyle. I don't know where Isabel is though; out with her closer friends I suppose."

"You know, I don't like being lied to," the tone was eerie and Liz swallowed, but told herself to hold firm, taking solace in the bond where she could feel Max's calm. There was a very tense silence as he pulled up in front of the Crashdown a little while later, but then his face broke out into that excessive friendly smile that creeped Liz out more than ever, "I'm glad we got to spend a little time together, Miss Parker; I'm sure we'll get better acquainted soon. In fact," the deputy smiled even wider, "I can pretty much guarantee it. Now run along now before you start to shiver and get really sick."

Liz nodded mutely and exited the car faster than she could remember doing before in her life and ran to the backdoor so she didn't have to be seen by all the customers in the diner. Suddenly she was craving privacy more than anything; no that wasn't true, Liz realized as she stripped down and ran into her bathroom, locking the door behind her before sliding down her small tub for a bath, I need Max – even though he's secretive he's not creepy like that man…

Unbeknownst to Liz, Deputy Fisher was a lot creepier than even she gave him credit for and as she sat shivering in her bathroom, attempting to calm down from their encounter, he drove out to a secret facility in the desert and changed back into his real clothes and identity, which was Special Agent Daniel Pierce.

Pierce's POV

The scanner beeped granting him access as he knew it would and he walked into his office to go over some reports from the doctors taking ever so gentle care of his former agent, Kathleen Topolsky. After a few minutes of some quite enjoyable reading, he got up and walked to the White Room where they were holding her for interrogation.

The shrill scream echoing off the bare walls around him a few hours later, was hoarse; the exhaustion plain to hear and Pierce almost enjoyed the sound.

She's a traitor to her race, he thought, watching detachedly as yet another shiny instrument of pain was being pulled out of Kathleen Topolsky's trembling body.

The doctor, who was currently on duty, trying to make the stubborn agent talk, calmly wiped the object free of blood and then grabbed one of his many colorful syringes and plunged the sickly green liquid into Topolsky's sweat-covered neck.

It's almost beautiful to watch, Pierce thought as spasms quickly overtook the female's body.

He took a piece of cloth and forced it into her mouth, he wanted her in pain, not choking on her own tongue after all.

"Sir," a new voice sounded from the earpiece that Pierce almost always wore when he was busy in the White Room.

A leader should always be reachable, as Pierce's grandfather used to say, something that had only reinforced itself in Pierce's mind when he joined the military and seen the chain of command in action firsthand.

"Yes Agent," Pierce said, keenly aware of Topolsky's crying eyes on him as he spoke.

"I've just been introduced to this particular case, Sir, and I need to say that unless you want Agent Topolsky brain dead or insane, you need to give her a break soon."

Pierce narrowed his eyes and glanced behind him at the wall he knew was a one-way window from the other end; where the new operative most likely was at that point in time. "We've been at this for a month. If she'd break down like that, she'd have done so already."

Pierce swallowed a smug smile at this sound argument, loving the defeated sigh he could hear in his ear at his determined tone.

"Ok Sir; just remember that the Intel she might provide may be faulty at best."

"Of course, Agent," patronized Pierce, turning back to lock eyes with a silently crying Topolsky, "but I'll never stop unless you start talking Kathleen."

Topolsky blinked and her already pale skin turned a little whiter, as impossible it may seem.

"A-a..." Topolsky croaked, trying to speak through her no doubt aching throat.

Feeling generous, Pierce nodded to the doctor to give her some pain reliever.

A few moments later, the suffering woman continued in a raspy voice. "A month? It's finally been a month now?"

The question seemed a little odd to Pierce, but since he'd been through hundreds of these sessions he knew the victims..., knew the hostiles, he corrected internally, usually focused on the oddest of things during their rare break from agony.

So, he just nodded and softly agreed that, yes it had been a whole month at long last.

Something flashed through Topolsky's red-rimmed eyes and she looked down briefly before slowly lifting her head as though all of the burdens of the world were on her petite shoulders.

After staring soundlessly into Pierce's eyes without any emotions showing, Topolsky sighed heavily and finally did what Pierce had so fervently wished for; she broke.

"If you take me back, I'll tell you everything I know. Just please stop hurting me, sir..."

TBC…


	23. Kyle,Tess, Liz and Max

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last Time on TATT: Kyle tries working through his conflicting feelings towards Isabel and Tess. Michael unwillingly hurts Maria when Kyle is seemingly accepted into the group without any explanation. The guys all dig up information on their enemies and decide to head to New York with the female hybrids in tow to meet the Dupes. Liz tries to comfort Maria, telling her to relax since eventually they'll be told everything – even as she's making a detailed journal of all the things that she's discovered, signaling that she's just as impatient as her best friend. Liz has a creepy experience with Deputy Fisher. And Kathleen breaks…

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CHAPTER TWENTYTHREE

Kyle's POV

Kyle was walking quietly behind the original time travelers and a confused looking Tess as they made their way away from the so called place of residence that the other four hybrids were supposed to be living in. Except they weren't there and according to the weary looking middle aged crow that ran the place; none of them had been present for over a month.

Kyle rolled his eyes as the memory of himself asking why the hell she hadn't alerted the police or something as soon as they went missing trickled through. The woman had just snorted and muttered something about being happy to be rid of those freaks before slamming the door in his face.

Since he was the only one that didn't look like one of the missing teens, Kyle had been selected to confront the woman, but he honestly thought that she wouldn't have looked twice even if Max or the others had asked for the missing dupes. She looked like she only waited for the day when she could burn the place down, Kyle thought sourly as he continued following the other three.

Max was leading the group, slowly making his way to the place where he remembered Rath and Lonnie having taken him in their earlier life. Considering the massive amount of more pressing memories that Max had been through since his brief visit in New York with Tess, Kyle was slightly impressed that he didn't seem to doubt where he was going even for a second. I shouldn't really be surprised, Kyle reasoned with a small shudder, Max always remembers stuff that the rest of us doesn't deem important anymore.

After another fifteen minutes walk in silence, Max finally stopped and led them through hidden places that were covered with signs that told the observant person to keep away if they valued their lives.

"Charming," Isabel muttered, ducking low as she followed a stony faced Max inside a dark subway tunnel that would eventually lead them all to the second set of hybrids. Tess nodded in fervent looking agreement, while Michael simply snorted.

Kyle swallowed a small smile, no matter what; I can always count on Isabel's sarcasm. It's weird that I never realized that she lost that in the last years of the war… He shook himself out of that particular train of thought a moment later, when he suddenly felt something pointy in the lower part of his back and a whispered voice ordering him to freeze.

"Eh, guys…" Kyle froze, lamenting yet again that his powers hadn't travelled through time with him or whatever it was he'd done. Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess immediately tensed at the cautious tone in his voice when he added in a mock calm tone, "we might have a little problem on our hands."

"You damn right you do," a hissing voice sounded in the sudden silence, a voice that sounded so much like Isabel's, and yet very different at the same time that it unnerved him a little. "Don't move a muscle if you want your friend here to live. I don't like ruining pretty things, and he's mighty fine. Now…Step into the light so I can see you."

Only then, Kyle realized that the hybrid he knew to be Lonnie, hadn't yet spotted the others and he couldn't help but smirk, even as whatever it was she was all but carving into his back, twisted a little more brutally.

"Oh, you've got no idea what's in store for you," he warned and watched as first Max, then Michael, then Tess and at last Isabel stepped into the artificially created light that Lonnie had procured while Kyle had been distracted.

The slight gasp in his ear brought another smirk onto Kyle's face and the moment where Lonnie's attention on him lessened, he sprung forward into the safety of his friends closed up ranks.

Lonnie immediately reacted by throwing the weapon in her hand; a homemade knife, after him; enhancing its flight with her powers, but Max simply raised a hand and his signature green glowing shield came up and Kyle breathed a small sigh of relief.

"We need to talk, Lonnie. Take me to the others before you realize that you're not the most dangerous one in New York City anymore."

Kyle smirked at the paleness that the Dupe had gotten ever since laying eyes on them; especially the ferociously glaring Isabel. "Lead the way," he said when she still hadn't moved a few minutes later. Lonnie sighed and after one last look at her look-a-like, she turned around with Max at her side and did as ordered.

Tess' POV

I don't know whether to be scared out of my mind, or fall to the ground laughing my head off, Tess pondered silently, as she followed Max and the others into a huge, cluttered room that once upon a time may have had a function, but it was only apparent to the Dupes.

At first, the sight of the very different looking Isabel had frightened Tess, she had to admit that; but when they all walked in and interrupted what seemed like a friendly hockey spar or something and caught sight of the other three Dupes, Tess had been hard pressed not to let a snort of amusement escape her.

The first one that Tess' eyes landed on was the one that looked like Michael. Albeit, a Michael with a severe lack in anything fashion or taste oriented, Tess decided as she took in the sight of the wild hair, the various piercings and the very non-new clothing that made Michael's style seem like he was a fashion model in comparison.

The sight of the Max look-a-like made Tess infinitely happy that Nasedo had come to Roswell to make her attempt a liaison with Max, because the abomination of a beard on the other Max's face could never have worked for her. No, not even close.

The last one that Tess' eyes found in her quick scan was the one who looked like herself. Maybe I'm a bit biased, she thought, running her eyes over the brightly colored hair and piercings, but she doesn't look nearly as bad as the others. I could pull off a look like that if I wanted to.

Tess didn't get more than a few seconds to take in the whole look and feel of the other hybrids, before the one, who looked like Michael seemed to have finished his own quick assessment of them. "Lonnie, what the hell?"

Lonnie shrugged, trying to seem a lot more casual than she really was, if her nervous glances towards Max every now and again were any indication. "It's cool Rath."

"Fuck no, it ain't 'cool'," the one called Rath growled and held up a hand in the signature motion that Tess recognized from when she needed to blast something really hard. She'd already begun her own countermove, when suddenly Rath was blasted off his feet, catapulting into the nearest wall with a bang.

The sound of his head smacking into the bricks, resonated in the sudden silence and Tess looked over at Michael, who was smirking ever so slightly. "I've been wanting to do that ever since I first saw you," she heard him mutter.

A moment later, Rath was being helped to his feet by the one that looked like Tess and she frowned a bit at seeing the much bigger male simply push her helping hands off roughly, hissing something no doubt offensive to her.

"Hey!" Tess called out, for some reason not really liking the dejected look on the look-a-like's slightly thinner face; it seemed like she was used to being called derogatory things and didn't have any real ability to fight it off any more. "Pick on someone your own size, Jerk."

The massive glare that he sent her way for her trouble instinctively made Tess fall back and go into the battle stance that her guardian had drilled into her from childhood. She needn't have bothered though, because a second later, her view was blocked by Max's muscular frame and his voice rang out like a whip, "Stand down."

From the look Tess managed to sneak as she looked out from behind Max, Rath didn't really seem to know how to react to the deceptively suburban teenage looking Max. Instead, he looked over at the one that looked like him and asked if he wasn't planning on showing these punks what he was made of.

The Max duplicate seemed a lot more capable of taking in the details about the unexpected arrivals than Rath. Like the fact that all of them, even Tess, looked extremely capable of hurting them. He just stood calmly, leaning on a hockey stick that had seen better days. "If you think I'm risking my ass for this before I've gotten some answers, you're dumber than you look," was all he ended up saying, scratching that horrible excuse of facial hair that made Tess want to hold him down and shave him as soon as possible.

"You're a fucking coward, Zan," Rath grumbled, causing Zan to straighten up and clench his fists.

"Don't start," he warned softly, and for a split second, Tess could see some of Max in him. Next to her, Lonnie sighed heavily and stepped forward.

"Guys, behave; we've got company and I don't know 'bout you, but I'd sure as hell like to know how they know 'bout us."

The two arguing hybrids stopped and looked at Lonnie, who was flanked by Isabel and Kyle. Tess decided to stay behind Max, since she wasn't really sure what the others skill set was yet and if she had to take cover behind someone, it would be the guy who'd already proven to be willing to save her life.

"Who's that?" Zan nodded with his chin at Kyle and Tess' self-preservation instinct immediately vanished when she suddenly felt the need to protect her human friend. Or…acquaintance, she lamented unhappily in her head, since he's still not completely forgiven me for mindwarping him. Not that I blame him…

"No one you need to know," Isabel answered icily and took one step forward, shielding the only human in the room. "Now quit stalling and let's get down to business. We came here to talk."

Zan's eyes widened at the sight of Isabel, but he just nodded once and gestured for them all to take a seat in the sad excuse of a couch. Briefly, Tess wondered why they didn't use their powers to spruce up their home, but let the matter lie as Max took up from where Isabel left off.

"We're here to talk and to give you a warning." His dark eyes glided over the others and he continued seriously, "Sometime in the future your sister and her lover will betray you. That's a fact and-"

Max was abruptly cut off by Lonnie, who ripped her arm out of Isabel's hand and stomped over to her brother. "What are you talking 'bout Zan 2.0? We're a family and we watch each other's back!"

Tess watched in silent confusion as Max just continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "How I know this is irrelevant, but I will say that since I don't know that much about you, I've decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. Also," his eyes landed on Lonnie and Rath and the look in them sent a shiver of unease through Tess as she once again was reminded that Max was nothing like Nasedo had told her growing up. "I will not go to the Summit you two are letting take place next year; I warn you that should you go ahead as planned despite my warnings, I and my family will end you."

Rath sneered soundlessly, but didn't seem to want to take any chances of further injuring himself, while Lonnie seemed completely shocked that someone appeared to know everything about her and the very secret plans she'd slowly begun making only recently.

Honestly, she's not the only one confused right about now, Tess thought, but she'd come to accept that there were things going on with the other hybrids that she would probably never know and just take things as they came.

"W-what do you want from us?" Tess looked over at her clone and hated the sound of her slight hesitation. If I let my enemies know I was the weakest link like that, Nasedo would've killed me, she thought with annoyance.

Max's voice brought her back to the present with a start. "Leave this place and forget about your life. Change your identities and live your lives in peace. If you try to cross me or mine, like I said, that's going to be the last thing you ever do."

He sounds like he's used to killing without missing a beat, Tess realized with an internal shudder. How can he be the same guy as the one who Liz's got wrapped around her finger without even trying? He's dangerous. Tess' eyes briefly glanced at Isabel, Michael and Kyle and she amended silently, they all are…

Zan leaned back in the beat up couch, laying an arm around Tess' copy and smirked. "What makes you so sure you're the one who's calling the shots here?"

Isabel answered quietly, hands slightly raised in case of any altercations, "We're the originals and like it or not, our power is more than you four can handle even if you're united. Just do as my brother says and spare yourselves a lot of pain."

Rath's sneer hadn't lessened as he listened to the conversation, and he seemed like he couldn't stand much more talking. "I ain't gonna let some snobby looking Squares boss me around! We're meant for more than this crappy ass existence!" And with that, Rath launched an attack on the one closest to him, which just so happened to be Tess.

Tess was too shocked by the sudden movement to do much of anything in those first crucial seconds. After that, she didn't have to worry anymore since Rath was no longer advancing. In fact he was lying on the concrete floor with his hands wrapped around his throat, gurgling blood.

With wide eyes, Tess looked over at Isabel, whose pointy finger had elongated into something claw like and from the drops of blood dripping softly down on the cluttered coffee table; she'd used it to cut Rath's throat in a vicious show of brutal efficiency.

Tess was fighting back gasps of alarm; again feeling like she was a mere kid compared to her other Roswellian hybrids. Especially, when Max simply raised a brow and looked Zan straight in the eye. "Are you a healer? I would do it, but I think it'd be counterproductive to our point if I actually saved his life."

Lonnie was pale, already by her lover's side, her hands bloody as she took over from the desperate looking Rath in terms of stemming the blood flow from his ghastly wound. "Zan!" She screamed, never taking her wary eyes off of Isabel, who was now daintily wiping her normal looking appendage with one of the ratty blankets from the couch.

Zan held up Max's stare one last, long second before he moved quickly down to help his second in command. Before he planted his hands on Rath's bleeding throat, he looked into Lonnie's wide eyes and asked seriously, "Are you planning on betraying me, Sister?"

Lonnie swallowed visibly, but seemed to realize that lying wouldn't get Rath the help he needed fast enough. "I won't, I swear. Please save him, Zan." Her eyes travelled towards the Tess' dupe in a quick motion, "Ava, please make him help me!"

Zan shared one quick look with Ava before looking down at a desperate looking Rath, who grew paler by the second. "And you? Will you swear to not betray me too?"

Rath couldn't nod, but he must have let something shine through his glassy eyes, because a moment later, Zan bent down and finally started healing the injured hybrid with an intense look of concentration on his face.

Tess exhaled a sigh of relief when, a few minutes later, Rath sat back up on his own. He was a bloody mess, and way more pale than he should be, but he was alive. Tess looked at Isabel and caught a brief flash of similar relief and relaxed an inch. I guess she's not as hardcore as she acts. But she deserves major props for her acting skills, Tess thought even as the tiny hint of emotion fled Isabel's flawless face. She does what she needs to, just like Max and Michael, but takes no enjoyment in it. We're more alike than I ever realized.

"I trust you're all aware now, that we are not what we seem to be," Max spoke again, exuding nothing but cordial calmness that looked to be having the same effect on the Dupes as it did on Tess. The Dupes nodded with various degree of fervor, Rath while his hands were busy with cleaning the blood off of him.

"I'm not much of a fighter," Zan stated a few moments of awkward silence later, "I prefer just chillin' and relaxing. I like my life and I kinda thought my family felt the same way." They all acted like they didn't see the slight twitch in both Lonnie and Rath as he added with a heavy sigh, "I guess I'll have to grow up now. So since I don't really feel like being dead and all; I could use some help with what's gonna happen next."

Tess bit her lip in slight frustration when Max stepped forward and spoke, not having heard this little part of the plan during their roadtrip to New York. "We have two guardians in L.A. We have only met one of them, but after I give him a call, I can promise you that they'll both do their best to help you along. I just have one request and that's to lay low. We have more enemies than any of you can even being to realize and I agree with you Zan, that a peaceful life is much more appreciated than the opposite."

Zan smirked again, making Tess believe that that was his only facial setting, "At least we agree on that much. Now…" He looked at her with a raised brow and forced the curly haired hybrid to change her mind about him when his face lit up into a flirtatious leer, "why don't you introduce me to you all – especially that little beauty right there."

Tess felt a flare of something akin to annoyance bursting to life inside of her, which wasn't all that surprising given her feelings towards Max's dupe, but what surprised her was the feel of someone else's anger inside of her, but for the stony faced expressions around her, she really couldn't tell from whom.

I must be more tired then I thought, Tess decided and rolled her eyes when Zan eyed her up and down, taking no heed to the fuming Ava next to him. But if he keeps it up, I won't be too tired to knock him out.

Liz's POV

While Max and the others were in New York City, Liz was busy. So busy in fact, that she was beginning to show it by gaining dark, unattractive circles under her eyes and she didn't have a lot of appetite so her weight was decreasing as well, leaving her with a little too much bone and not enough flesh.

On the second day of Max and the others' absence, Liz groaned as she came into her room, just having finished her latest double shift at the Crashdown, and let herself fall into her deskchair. "I need to sleep," she muttered, absentmindedly removing her antennas.

If only I didn't feel so weighed down with everything that's been going on, when I finally do try to relax, Liz thought, getting ready to take a bath. She grabbed one of her fluffiest towels and got into the shower, already losing her battle to not think about anything alien related a few seconds later.

Maria kept bugging her with her own irritation and hurt from Michael's supposed betrayal whenever she could catch Liz in a spare moment; Alex was just a permanent guest in the diner these days, looking sad and worried and Liz's own concern for Max kept nagging at her. All of which were things that the intelligent brunette could usually handle without much effort, but then there was Deputy Fisher too. He'd taken to showing up in the Crashdown at all times of the day; she had even seen him at Maria's house, flirting with her mom the night before, so she had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't the only one he was keeping tabs on.

He's not just stalking me, Liz thought, drying her hair on autopilot, he is stalking those who aren't in New York. The memory of their brief conversation in his car ran through Liz's mind and she shuddered a bit before once again forcing the matter out of her head, promising herself to tell Max and the others as soon as they returned.

As Liz passed her desk, she noticed the clutter that had sprouted there, it was usually something she never allowed, and before she knew it, she was deeply engrossed in cleaning it as her insides kept twisting uncomfortably. Something that it had been doing ever since she'd let herself step inside of Deputy Fisher's vehicle.

The choking feeling of unnamed danger, the beat of cold sweat of fear that she'd felt mixing in with the raindrops still staining her skin, the- "No," Liz shook her head and threw her pencils into her drawer with a resounding bang. "Stop thinking about it."

She stood up and quickly donned her pajamas and crawled into bed, a moment later; she turned around and turned on her radio to chase away the echoing silence. Liz forced her eyes to close, wishing for sleep, but a couple of minutes later, the other reason for her lack of calm hit her like a freight train.

Tension, anger, concern, hope, fear, annoyance, desperation and caution hit her through the bond in one continuous cycle; the amount of each emotion told Liz that Max wasn't in any real danger and it was only his personal worries that he wasn't good enough in hiding from her. That or he's letting me in a little more, Liz thought, not for the first time, but it's really not that easy to block so I can sleep…

Liz had originally wanted to close off the connection so she didn't have to catch herself from spacing out or trembling ever so slightly with nerves, but the image of Max's horribly hurt face the last time she'd cut their bond had stopped her from going through with it. So, instead, the teenage girl simply rolled over and started doing multiplications in her head in an attempt to catch some much needed sleep.

0o0o0

The next day was Monday and the only reason that Liz blearily reached out and shut off her alarm clock when it'd been ringing for five minutes straight, was the fact that today was the day where Max was supposed to be back from his trip.

And then I may be able to relax a little again, Liz hoped as she tiredly prepared for a new week. As she walked down to force something in her empty stomach, despite its knots, Liz wondered just how it was that she'd gotten so weirded out by Max's absence from her in such a short period of time. It's like our bond wants to keep us in the same place as much as possible; at the very least in the same town, she thought, giving up on the waffles that her mom had put out for her and taking an apple instead.

She was still nibbling on said fruit unenthusiastically when there was a knock on the door. The moment Liz opened the door, all of her pent up emotions and all of the stress she'd been feeling flew from her mind to be replaced by an explosive burst of pure joy.

"Max!" She flew at him, startling him a little, but not caring as she latched on to him as though he was the sole purpose of remaining sane. A small part of Liz had an inkling of this to be the complete truth, but she pushed the possible ramifications of that to the side and just enjoyed Max's arms around her as she breathed in his special scent.

"When did you get back? I didn't feel anything," she muttered with her face buried in the crook of his neck.

Max's small chuckle resonated through his body and the movement jostled Liz a little, but she didn't care; she was just so happy to be back near him.

"About fifteen minutes ago; I wanted to surprise you and maybe give you a ride to school."

Liz whispered her agreement to that idea and just tightened her grip on the hybrid with a content sigh.

After what only felt like seconds, but was probably more along the lines of minutes, Liz slowly untangled herself from her sort of boyfriend. His smiling dark eyes sent pleasant shivers through her and she had to repress a sudden need to drag him upstairs to the more private setting of her room.

Then, as she stood staring at him, Max's eyes dimmed ever so slightly and he ran a hand through his hair. "Liz, don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look so good. You're still beautiful of course, but you look exhausted."

Liz appreciated that he found her beautiful, something she still hadn't really managed to find any rational explanation for and smiled. "I've just been busy. You know, school and the Crash and stuff…anyway," she quickly changed the subject; "I have to say I don't know whether to be happy that you let me feel you in your absence or slap you for the same thing. I was on pins and needles, let me tell you."

Max smiled ruefully, reaching out and caressing her cheek ever so slightly. It was always a bit perplexing to Liz when he did that, since it made her feel like he literally worshipped the ground she walked on. I'm by no means perfect, so having someone look at me like I am is a bit unsettling.

The moment the word filtered through her mind, Liz remembered another pretty unsettling thing and flinched. Deputy Fisher. She must have let something slip, because in the next second, Max was a lot closer and staring into her eyes with an intense look that told the human that he wasn't about to be distracted no matter what.

"Liz, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Max. I just…It's nothing." Even as she said the words, Liz battled with herself. I keep asking him to trust me and let me in, so I should really do the same. But, she argued inwardly, I don't want to worry him with my paranoia; it's probably nothing.

Max's warm hands on her face gently pulled Liz out of her head and into the present and she blinked owlishly. "I won't push you to tell me," He murmured softly, "I have way too many secrets of my own for it to be justifiable. But," Max's tone turned excruciatingly soft as he gazed lovingly down into her eyes, "just promise me that you know that you can always come to me if you need to. Okay?"

Liz nodded and smiled when Max planted a brief kiss on her forehead before letting go of her. "Now, go get your stuff and let's get to school before you break that perfect record of yours."

Liz stuck her tongue out at his teasing, but turned to do as she was told. She quickly grabbed her book bag sitting on the counter next to her uneaten waffles and walked back outside. On the way to school though, Liz sat in Max's Jeep feeling more and more conflicted, even as a big part of her enjoyed just sitting next to him and holding his free hand as he drove.

Even if Deputy Fisher is more than he seems, I really shouldn't be keeping it to myself…He's not really after me. She cast a quick look at Max and smiled when he caught her, before she looked back out at the passing scenery. He's after Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess and something tells me he's utterly ruthless…Or might be after them.

Liz frowned as she suddenly felt something rush through her; a flash that wasn't hers but one that she barely recalled seeing from when she'd reopened her connection with Max in the cave with a searing kiss. A white room, pain, fear, needles, ice, Deputy Fisher's chilling smirk.

"Liz?"

Liz jumped in her seat and looked over at Max with a no doubt deer in the headlights look in her eyes. "What?"

Max looked slightly bemused, even as a hint of worry entered his eyes. "We're here."

Liz looked around, only just then realizing that Max had parked the car in the student parking lot at the high school and she felt rattled and embarrassed. But then, as soon as Max had opened his door and was about to exit the Jeep, she also suddenly felt resolute and held out a hand to stop him, having made her decision in that split second.

"I need to tell you something, Max, but it may sound completely crazy and…" Liz trailed off for a second, before continuing with a look of determination in her brown orbs, "I need you to hear me out and then you can either investigate on your own or ignore it, but at least I'll have done my part."

Max furrowed his brows, but silently closed the door again before turning to look at her fully. "I'm listening Liz. Whatever it is, I can handle it."

Liz really hoped he meant it and started her story. "Well, there's this new guy in town, who works for Kyle's dad, Deputy Fisher-" A bolt of anger and unease flew through the bond and Liz quickly continued with what had happened the other day and how she'd noticed the admittedly handsome Deputy around her increasingly more after that.

"…don't know why exactly, but I'm pretty sure he's not just a deputy and I know it sounds completely ludicrous, but I just have this feeling that he's bad news and…well, I thought that you should know even if this might make you think of me as some paranoid person with way too much time on her hands."

"Liz stop," the firm command immediately put a stop to Liz's babbling and she took her first real breath since launching into her quick explanation and finally looked closer at the boy next to her.

Max wasn't pale or showed any truly visible signs of discomfort, at least as long as one didn't look too closely into his dark brown eyes. Not even their shared bond told her as much about his current mood as his eyes did in that moment. He looks like I've just dealt him a deathly blow, Liz grimaced on the inside, it's like I've told him the worst news he's ever heard.

"I need to go find Iz and Michael," Max said after a long, tense silence. Liz didn't even get a chance to ask any questions, before Max added quietly, "Please don't ask right now. I don't want to have to lie to you."

Biting her lip in thought, Liz broke their locked gazes before whispering with a noticeable plea in her voice, "Just tell me if I was right when you've investigated it. I deserve that much."

"You deserve a lot more than that," Max muttered tenderly and slowly leaned forward and slanted his lips over hers in the gentlest kiss she'd ever received in her life. "Some day I'll tell you everything," Liz heard him whisper in her ear just before he exited the jeep and vanished with a speed that surprised her.

"I don't know if I can wait that long," Liz said in the sudden lonely space that she'd been left in. "But I'll try to be patient for now," she continued as if the boy she was speaking to could still hear her. Then she grabbed her bookbag and walked to her first class with a curious mix of happiness and sadness swelling up inside of her and this time it wasn't the bond acting up, because Max had muted their connection the instant she'd spoken Deputy Fisher's name.

Of course, Liz's promise fled her conscious later that day, when she noticed that not only was Michael and Isabel invited to some sort of secret meeting in the Eraser Room, but so was Kyle. Maria wasn't the only one smarting over the fact that he'd been let in so effortlessly and Liz snapped, deciding to take matters into her own hands.

Max's POV

It took three hours of appearing just as bored and unfocused as the other teenagers around him, but finally Max managed to get his fellow time jumpers and Kyle located in the Eraser Room just as the bell rang for the next class.

Michael, acting carefree and nonchalant as he was wont to do in such times, merely raised a brow as Isabel squeezed down into a seat between him and Kyle and looked up at the still standing Max by the door. "Not that I particularly care all that much, but if we keep these little rendezvous' up, we might attract attention from well meaning teachers that want to figure out why we're so unhappy that we can't show up in time for classes."

Kyle snorted, looking a little pained at sitting so close to Isabel, who in turn acted like nothing was wrong and simply rolled her eyes at her hybrid friend.

Max finished locking the door with his powers and put up a special kind of shield that Serena had painstakingly taught him once upon a time; it acted more like an anti listening ward than any real defensive shield and took a little time to set up. "We need to tie up another loose end before worrying about our scholastic achievements."

As he finished speaking, the others looked a lot more alert and a hell of a lot more serious, something that Max was very thankful for. At least we're way past the part of our lives where we debated endlessly about the most minor details before getting back to the matter at hand. Seeing the look of curiosity, Max shook off his thoughts and simply said Pierce's name.

"What about Pierce?" Kyle asked, at the same time as Michael, who said, "I thought you said you were taking care of him!"

Isabel merely looked cautious, seemingly recognizing the slight look of anxiousness that Max knew he hadn't quite wiped off his face yet. Sighing, he retold Liz's story, trying not to think about how much she'd changed since getting to know his alien secret. She looks so much more affected this time around; I hope we can have some peace and quiet after Pierce is taken care of. She needs it more than the other humans do, I think.

"Maxwell!"

Michael's voice interrupted Max's ponderings and he chastised himself mentally before refocusing completely on the current situation.

"I have a plan, but you're not going to like it," he slowly said, pretending not to hear his sister's muttered curse at his words. It's not like his lasts few plans didn't work, but it was true that they took a lot out of them and if nothing else, they all really needed some rest.

"Tell us everything," Kyle ordered, ignoring Isabel's words as best he could, considering she all but sat on his lap in the small room. "And don't even think about leaving anything out, Max, 'cause we'll find out the truth anyway and then there's gonna be shouting and anger and I'm just too tired for that right now. Now, spill it."

Max glanced at his long time friend and one time rival for Liz's affections and sighed. "Fine, but hear me out before you all object to it," here his eyes darted over to Isabel in particular and she frowned.

A couple of minutes later, the empty hallway outside of the Eraser Room echoed with a cry of outrage. "That's a stupid plan, Max! Absolutely not!"

0o0o0

Stupid plan or not, let's just hope it works, Max thought that same evening as he donned a pair of black pants and a tight fitting black shirt.

Isabel stood in the doorway watching him, scowling ever so slightly, but he could easily ignore that since he understood her feelings quite well.

At last grabbing a pre-prepared protein bar with Tabasco sauce drippled all over it, Max was good to go. He quickly walked past his sister, but then stopped when she spoke quietly as he passed her.

"Please don't risk your life for this plan of yours. I didn't come back here to loose you."

Max stopped dead and looked back at her with a small smile adjourning his lips; a movement that still felt foreign to him after so many years in battle. "I'll try my best." I'm surprised Iz, he thought to himself as Isabel nodded and left his side and walked into her own room and closed the room a bit harder than was necessary, here I thought we agreed that nothing matters more than to keep this peace we're living in now. Not even our lives. I'll be careful, but if it comes to it, I'm still willing to die for my beliefs, so you or anyone else doesn't have to; I can't live through that again without going insane.

It didn't take Max long to get to his destination after his first stop. He'd driven by the Sheriff's department just to scout and see if Pierce was really doing his so called job, then he drove into a deserted area just outside of town and changed the Jeep into a lot less noticeable vehicle and painted it black with one quick movement of his hand. It may not be as good as when Isabel does it, Max thought, assessing his work with a critical eye, but it'll have to do for what I need.

Not long after that, Max drove to the small apartment building that 'Deputy Fisher' supposedly lived. Kyle had remembered his dad's passwords and managed to find out the information after hacking Sheriff Valenti's private computer from one of the computer's in the school.

Max looked up at the dark windows in the apartment and began making his way stealthily to the door, only to dash to the side and hide behind another parked car as someone came out in the next second. Max chanced one look and smirked to himself.

Pierce wasn't wearing his deputy costume, but the usual suit that Max had always associated with the bloodthirsty operative. It would seem he's on his way to the base, Max thought and ran back towards his disguised Jeep as fast as he could to follow the F.B.I agent.

It hadn't been part of the plan to go to the base already, Max knew that the others would freak out if they knew what he was doing, but he had a chance to advance things before it got too out of hand and was going to take it.

Max soon found himself in the place that he had once thought was the worst he had ever experienced, but he was wiser now and definitely less naïve.  
Compared to some of the other tortures he'd been subjected too, Pierce's hadn't been the worst one; to be honest, Max decided with a rueful twitch of his lips at the macabre thought, it hadn't even been in the top three.

But it had been the first one and therefore it would always be something he'd never forget.

Forcing the memories of those twenty-four hours out of his mind, Max snuck closer and tried remembering everything Isabel and Michael had shown him of the place after he'd finally convinced them that his plan to kidnap Pierce was sound. I'm just lucky that I thought of that idea considering what is currently happening, Max thought and he'd just reached the entrance when everything inside of him froze up in fear. Fear that did not belong to him and as soon as he realized that it was coming from Liz through the bond he'd already muted to the best of his abilities earlier in the day, he heard her scream in the distance and cursed with his own fear.

"Oh Maaax," a familiar voice rang out and caused the hybrid to freeze mid-movement. "I'm so happy you decided to join me tonight. I must admit that I was surprised when my men told me of your presence at the apartment, but…oh well, I couldn't very well let this golden opportunity slip by now, could I?"

Pierce's voice was overflowing with that false saccharine sweetness and polite tone that used to cause the hairs in the back of Max's neck to stand up – at least until Khivar's arrival had flushed that memory out.

What do I do? What do I do? The question was on repeat in Max's frantic mind, but then his insides twisted when Liz cried out in pain.

"I don't enjoy causing harm to innocent people, Max," Pierce said in the distance, "but I'm perfectly willing to do so if it means saving my planet from your type of vermin."

"You don't know anything about me," said Max and slowly stood up with his hands raised. His face was void of any and all emotion when he finally locked eyes with the Federal agent, trying to go into that soldier mode of his that he'd sworn never to return to. Liz kept saying she was sorry and the fear and pain in her voice nearly broke Max's resolve. "If you have any decency in you, you will let her leave here. She's innocent in all of this."

Pierce smiled his fake smile once more and gestured to the sunglass wearing agent, who was holding Liz in his arms. "Give her to me Agent Carlson." Then he turned his head a fraction in Max's direction. "I'm terribly sorry, but that's one request I can't grant - Especially since it seems that harming this little one, means so much to you. Aren't we lucky she decided to hide in your car? I did wonder why I saw her crawl into your Jeep just before school ended as I was leaving the principal's office to deliver some career pamphlets for the Senior Class. I'm a concerned citizen after all," at the end his voice took on that slight southern twang that Max had forgotten about until then.

Max swallowed a growl as Pierce ran his gun down Liz's trembling face, neck and cleavage and judging by the cringe on her face, his grip on her was by no means lighter than the one she'd been in before. Max noticed that her right arm was hanging loosely down and in an odd angle, recognizing a broken arm when he saw one and had to fight back his primal urge to just release all of his rage. If I do that, he calmed himself with a lot of effort, I'll hurt Liz; she hasn't developed any powers yet so I can't do it without hurting her. Relax, and wait for the perfect opportunity.

Max's quick assessment had barely taken five seconds, but it was long enough to hear Pierce call out for someone behind him. As he heard the steps drawing closer, Pierce's taunting voice sounded again, "Since you are willing to behave so nicely, I'll let an old friend take you down for questioning. I have no doubt that you'll enjoy seeing her again. She's talked a lot about you."

And just as Kathleen Topolsky placed her hand on his bicep to lead him inside of the base, Max watched in horror as Pierce simply knocked Liz unconscious and handed her back to one of his operatives. "We'll be taking Miss Parker as an insurance of your future good will and cooperation. I'll be down to see you in a few hours, so I hope you'll enjoy your time with Agent Topolsky while you wait."

It was only Max's former training and experience in these kinds of situations that saved him from crying out Liz's name, pleading for her safety despite knowing that Pierce would only enjoy such an act. Instead, he tightened his emotions and let his older, less emotional self take over fully.

"I guess my plan wasn't as good as I thought," Max coldly stated as Kathleen slowly led him down the hallways to that cursed White Room that he really hadn't missed.

Kathleen glanced over at the other agent that was flanking Max's other side and said just as coldly, "You have to really know who to trust. Have a nice time Max," and with that Kathleen shoved him inside the White Room and the door creaked as it slowly closed with an ominous bang.

Max closed his eyes and sent out the strongest pulse that he could, hoping that just maybe Isabel or Michael was close enough to feel that things hadn't gone as planned and then he sat down to meditate, ready to go back to that dark part of him that had survived never-ending torture, knowing that he'd need it more than ever…

TBC…


	24. Isabel, Maria, Pierce and Michael

Isabel's POV

Isabel was in a fairly decent mood for once, which was surprising to her since her brother was about to embark on one of the most idiotic plans of all time. She'd tried convincing him to figure out something else, anything else, but even after she'd all but pleaded with him as he changed his clothes, Max didn't listen.

None of that explained her fairly positive mood, but it was simple really. Isabel was picking up an extra shift; evidently Liz had wanted a night off for once, and the sight of Alex sitting by the counter, doing homework always cheered her up.

And it doesn't hurt that he always lights up when he sees me, Isabel thought as she walked over to the counter to get her order pad. "Hi Alex."

It was when Alex barely looked into her eyes with a thin smile on his lips, and the quick rush of disappointment rushed through their bond that Isabel remembered that Michael and Max weren't the only ones dealing with an irate human. "Hello Isabel," he muttered, tearing his gaze away from her and with it gone, Isabel's mood plummeted once more.

"D-Do you need anything?" Great Isabel, Isabel thought sarcastically to herself, why don't you stutter some more and get him to see what a great catch your hybrid behind really is.

Alex blinked as he slowly looked back up at her, looking as if he tried with all his might not to look her into her eyes. "I would like another soda, thanks."

Eager to do something, anything to get back on her once upon a time boyfriend's good side, Isabel all but ran to the soda machine and grabbed the biggest glass she could find and filled it to the brim. Agnes sauntered by and snorted at the beverage which was running over the sides of the glass, staining Isabel's fingers with its yellow color.

"Move along, Agnes," Isabel warned the older waitress, not really in the mood to be ridiculed at that point in time by the diner's resident black cloud of doom, "nothing to see here."

A moment later, she finally managed to hand over a perfectly cooled and filled glass of orange soda, feeling as though it was the biggest thing she'd ever procured for anyone. "It's on me," Isabel added with a beaming smile when Alex fumbled with his wallet to pay.

"Oh, I can't let you-" he started, but Isabel just waved off his objections and rushed over to a couple that had just entered the Crashdown to take their order. On the way, she noticed Michael sitting in the booth they all usually sat in, staring holes in the back of Maria's eyes as she dashed around with practiced ease and completely ignored him – even though he'd obviously tried getting her attention for a while.

Deciding that the couple, who were busy kissing each other, could stand to wait a little, Isabel made her way over to her fellow time traveler. "Hey Michael, what can I get you?"

Michael waved her off, not taking his eyes off of Maria as he spoke, "I'm sitting in Maria's section. I want her to take my order, Iz. Sorry."

Isabel shrugged and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze as her heart went out to him at the almost desperately longing gaze he was sporting. "I'll tell her to-"

"No, don't interfere," Michael interrupted quietly, "She's pissed and it's not without reason so I'm just gonna sit here and wait until she's ready. I'm not gonna push her…"

Isabel glanced back over her shoulder at Alex, who was sitting calmly with his now half-full soda. He looked gloomy and just the thought of it being her fault made her chest ache uncomfortably. "Yeah, me neither," she muttered at Michael, giving his shoulder one last squeeze before finally going over to take the very affectionate couple's order.

The rest of the shift passed by with its usual mix of rushing around or doing a whole lot of nothing, sending former, snobbish friends their much deserved glares when they tried to assert their popularity over Isabel's as she waited on them. It gave the Antarian princess quite a good feeling to quell any and all attempts of the teenage girls to discredit her and make her feel like a loser.

Like any of that even matters to me anymore, Isabel thought as she'd just "accidentally" tripped over thin air and spilled quite a bit of coke on the one girl, who'd she'd heard mutter stuff, not only about Isabel herself, but about Alex as well. Apparently, the gangly teen just sitting minding his own business was enough to get him on the bully's radar. I've killed more people than I could ever have imagined and now I'm supposed to be devastated by a pack of little kids trying to make me feel intimidated. As if…

Since it was a school day the next day, Isabel's shift was short and she followed a neutral looking Maria into the backroom to change out of her uniform. Just as she was about to go against Michael's wishes and ask if the blonde had any intentions of forgiving him, it happened.

It was something that she'd hoped never, ever to feel again; a stabbing, piercing wave of raw emotion crashed into the very core of her being with the strength of a hundred tsunamis.

HELP ME!

The cry for help raced through her and caused Isabel to stumble forward into the still opened locker in front of her as she battled the overflowing nausea that the possibilities of the distress call invoked.

"Isabel?" Maria sounded frantic, and a small part of Isabel really wanted to just reassure her old friend that she was fine and that there was no reason to worry, but the bigger, more realistic part that had lived through wars, knew better and just couldn't muster up any real comfort for the human- Especially since she was busy trying not to gag out all of her sudden fears.

A second later, the door to the backroom slammed open and Michael stormed in with a stone faced Kyle trailing after him. Evidently, he didn't need his powers to realize something was really off to put that expression on Michael's face.

"Iz?" Michael's hands went to her face and she felt him deliberately lift her up and as their eyes met, Michael used their ability to talk without being overheard.

'What's wrong? I felt something horrible, but it was too vague for me to get a handle on. Is it Max?'

Isabel nodded, her tongue suddenly too dry to function properly as her very imaginative mind began assaulting her with unbearable images of what had made her proud brother plea like that.

'He's in trouble Michael,' she sent back even as her mouth gasped out the same words audibly.

Isabel didn't let Maria's confused, and Kyle's more relevant questions bother her, nor did she acknowledge Michael's continued attempts at probing into her mind, she was busy being consumed with pure, unadulterated fear for Max. And then, Michael was pushed away as familiar cool hands settled on her face in much the same way, Michael's had been only seconds before.

"Breathe Isabel," Alex's soothing voice echoed all around her, chasing away the mocking fantasies that kept on trying to drown her senses to drag her down fully into despair. "Breathe!"

Only then, did the beautiful hybrid realize that she'd forgotten all about breathing in her desperate state of mind and she took in a lungful of air with a gasp.

Isabel calmed a fraction and locked eyes with the one human she loved above any reason, considering he'd been killed so early on in their previous life. Alex's eyes were dark with worry and his own concern for her and she tried with all her might to send some semblance of cautious calm through their connection, but to her surprise, Alex frowned with frustration and shook his head.

"Don't try to calm me down like an upset kid," he ordered, forcing his own anger back at her and she blinked as something seemed to burst like a bubble within him and a moment later, she was hit with a wave of his emotions that went way over the normal standard and then everything turned blissfully dark.

Maria's POV

The second that Isabel bowled backwards, looking for all the world like she'd just croaked, all hell broke loose.

Michael growled and within the span of two seconds, Kyle had slammed Alex into the small cluster of lockers that stood up against the wall into the diner. "What the fuck did you just do?" Michael's voice was guttural with rage and his eyes were narrowed ominously in a way that really shouldn't be sending pleasant tingles down her back.

Kyle stood right by the angry hybrid's side and that left Maria to take care of the downed female left unnoticed on the floor. She looks really pale, Maria observed, automatically checking to see if she'd sustained any bumps on the head since Alex had been removed so fast that he'd barely managed to stop the girl's fall. She seemed like something terrible happened and I really hope it's not something too horrible to any of us…

Maria breathed a small sigh of relief when Isabel's eyes began to flutter in the next moment, realizing that she'd been more scared than she cared to admit. Who'd have guessed I'd be starting to see Queen Amidala as my friend?

Isabel's eyes slowly opened and the look in them touched something within Maria, it was soft and full of joy at seeing her, and then in their next breath, Isabel's eyes widened as everything seemed to crash into her all at once. Another breath and a quick look over Maria's shoulder and Isabel was jumping to her feet and sent Kyle and Michael stumbling into the opposite wall with one raised hand. "what the heck are you two doing?" she hissed, stepping in front of a pale faced Alex, who looked immensely relieved at seeing her, not only wide awake and a whole lot less panicky, but angry and ready to protect him from the two angry males, who were busy straightening back up after her unexpected attack.

"He hurt you!" Kyle said, looking eager to get back into the fray, but Isabel's glare stopped him cold, just as it did Michael, who was not trying to avoid the disappointed look that Maria was sending him.

"He was comforting me," Isabel stated coldly and walked backwards a few steps to be within touching distance from the still shaken looking Alex, "he'd never hurt me and you two should know better than anybody!"

Maria rolled her eyes mentally; here they go again with their secrets and coded messages. I swear someday I'll-

She was pulled out of her bitter planning when she heard that they were now in the middle of discussing what to do and how to find Max. Huh, Maria realized with a start, seems like I was out a lot longer than I thought.

"-find him if we don't go out and look for him!" Isabel whisper yelled, trying not to gain attention from Jeff Parker, who'd just walked by the door on his way to the kitchen apparently.

Michael ran a hand through his shaggy hair, "it's no use, if that worked we'd have found him when Khi-"

"Kids tried to bully him, right?" Kyle interjected quickly, sending a look at Maria and Alex, who in turn shared their own look. Obviously that hadn't been what Michael had been about to say. Too tired to protest any more, Maria pretended that she hadn't heard and just kept listening in on the more and more absurd suggestions at locating Max.

A few minutes later, Maria had had just about enough of being ignored and raised her hand pompously, and started speaking coolly to the others. "I realize that as a lowly human I couldn't possibly add to this oh-so-productive conversation that's been going on these last few moments, but," here Maria's glance went to Kyle, who seemed to wilt under the quick glare, "since Valenti here is allowed to speak up amongst the so-called-cool crowd, I'm gonna speak too. Any of you ever thought about grabbing Liz?"

At the looks of confusion, Maria barely managed to force back her eye roll. "Does Liz, or does she not, share a huge bond with the missing Max? Couldn't she be the key to locating him since she's probably curled up in a ball right now, feeling confused and scared out of her intelligent little mind? Just a suggestion…"

The looks that Isabel, Michael and Kyle shared would've earned a proud chuckle from Maria if she wasn't feeling so tense at that point in time. They looked like they'd been slapped in the head with a brick for only one moment longer, before Kyle spun around and led the way upstairs to the Parker's apartment.

Maria grabbed Alex's arm and followed suit, not needing a mirror to know she had a very determined look on her face. They're not leaving us out of this anymore, I'm sick of it!

As soon as she stepped into Liz's room and saw the frozen trio in there, looking confused as to why the clever brunette weren't there since they needed her, Maria got a bad feeling. She walked past the other people and started looking around.

"Where's Liz?" Michael asked, looking at the clearly unoccupied bed as if she'd magically appear if he stared at it long enough.

"Mr. Parker just said she wanted a night off," Isabel muttered, glancing out of the open window to see if maybe the girl was sleeping on the small terrace.

"She left earlier," of all people, it was Alex, who seemed to know something and Maria was the first by his side as he continued quietly, "I saw her leave and asked her what she was up to. She said she was going to do some research for some biology project she was working on, which I thought was weird since we don't have a project right now, but it's not unusual for Liz to want to work ahead so I just thought that she-"

"Thanks Alex," Kyle interrupted, smiling a bit guiltily at him, finally seeming to realize that he'd actually crossed a pretty big line when he'd attacked Alex earlier.

"It's clearly a lie," Maria stated even as she started walking around with the air of someone who was used to spend time in Liz's neat room. "She's up to something and I've got this weird feeling that it's got something to do with Max."

At the mention of Max's name, the tension came crashing back into room and Maria stepped out the window, following a part of her that told her to do so even as she made sure to take in every little detail of the space before her.

There was a niggling feeling of déjà vu inside of her and Maria had a brief flash of a weary looking Liz talking about a hidden journal, before she found herself standing in front of the place where she just knew there was a loose brick and before she hesitated enough to talk herself out of acting on it, Maria reached out and a moment later, she was standing with a bulging, brown journal in her hands.

Immediately, Maria opened it up to the last page and gasped at what she found written in hurried scribble.

-I don't know why I feel so odd about this, but something's telling me that Max and the others aren't telling me everything. I feel like there's this compulsion on me to find out as much as I can, since it's obvious that no one is willing to tell me or Maria or Alex anything. So, I'm going to hide in Max's Jeep as soon as I finish this entry. Hopefully it'll bring me some clarity, something that I feel that I've been missing since that day where he brought me back to life…

"What does it say?"

Michael's murmur next to her, startled Maria and she closed the journal with a snap. Every word that Liz had written resonated within Maria; she felt exactly the same and it was only the right opportunity that had given Liz the chance to act first.

"She's with Max," Maria decided that was the least worrying aspect of what she'd just discovered, but as soon as the words left her mouth, Michael paled drastically and looked over at the window where Isabel stood watching them with worried eyes.

Okay, I may not have been right about that, Maria thought, biting her lower lip with increasing worry as true fear bowled into her from Michael's side. Evidently he'd forgotten to monitor their bond for the time being.

"He's with Pierce then," Maria heard Kyle mutter from behind Isabel. Judging from the flinch the unknown name brought forth in all the Czechoslovakians – and Kyle – Maria figured that whoever Pierce was, it wasn't a nice person.

"Do you think…?" Michael began, before looking briefly down at Maria, who finally exploded.

"Hold up!" She screeched, holding up a hand to make her point, "If this Pierce person is bad, I deserve to know everything and so does Alex! Right, Alex?" she looked beseechingly over at Alex, who stood quietly in the back.

"Calm down," Isabel softly said, but it only served to incite Maria's rage even more.

"No, I won't calm down! Now talk before I start screaming my head off."

Kyle looked like he didn't really know whether to scowl or smile, so Maria sent him a sneer that quickly brought an end to any expression on the young man.

"For Heaven's sake, Michael," Isabel finally exclaimed, her hand massaging her temples wearily, "tell her something so we can get on with saving Max and Liz from that monster."

Michael sighed and then took a deep breath before he launched into a story about how this Pierce guy was the slightly dopey Deputy Fisher in disguise – something that really freaked Maria out, considering her mom had flirted quite severely with the guy just the other day.

"-and now he's somehow managed to get a hold of not only Max but Liz as well. There's no doubt that he's hurting them." Michael trailed off quietly, seeming to expect an explosion of epic proportions from her.

Well, he's gonna be disappointed, Maria thought even as she was battling herself to keep from doing just as everyone expected from her. If Pierce hurts one hair on her head, I'm gonna kill him. No, I'm gonna sick my mom on him and then I'll sit back and watch the real agony begin!

"Maria?" Alex's whisper of her name brought the admittedly dramatic girl back to her senses and she looked up at her tall childhood friend. He smiled briefly and nodded over at the trio, who were busy muttering amongst themselves. "They're gonna go after them. It seems like they know where this secret base is, so…Anyway, we're supposed to stay behind."

"No way!" The words left her lips before she'd even fully formed the words mentally, and within a span of two seconds, Maria had placed herself firmly in front on Liz's window to keep them all from leaving. The startled looks she was receiving didn't deter her in the least. "You're not going anywhere without me!"

Michael's sigh of frustration was nothing compared to the small burst that rushed from his end of the bond to hers, but it only managed to increase Maria's stubborn streak. "Maria, be reasonable; it's too dangerous to come with us. You're only hu…" he stopped short and Maria laughed a cold laugh that seemed to have an effect on not only him, but the others as well.

"Only human, you mean." Maria said after she'd caught her breath. Then she looked over at Kyle, who actually refused to meet her gaze and instead, Maria looked back up the guy she had some very strong feelings for. "I'm not the only human that's going with you. Again it seems like Kyle's got a free pass to tag along even though he's just as pathetically human as I am."

"That's not what I meant," Michael objected, taking a small step forward only to stop dead the moment that he realized that Maria stepped backwards at his advancement. "Maria, it's too dangerous; I couldn't live with you getting hurt. It'd kill me more than anything else could. I love you."

Maria huffed; trying not to think too much about the pleasant feeling his words awoke inside of her. "Right now, you've got a funny way of showing it. If Kyle goes, I go, it's as simple as that; no," Maria continued after one more quick look of disgust in Kyle's direction, "screw that; I'm going no matter what!"

"Stop acting like a child! I'm not letting you go anywhere!" Michael roared, at the end of his rope and he walked closer with thin lips and an angry expression on his face that actually managed to make Maria a little bit nervous.

Before she listened too much to the more rational part of her, Maria's hand had moved and the sound of the slap she'd just given Michael echoed in the sudden silence. No one moved for a long moment, and Maria forced back the feeling of regret she'd had the instant her hand had connected with his skin.

"You may not trust this lonely overly dramatic human," Maria glanced harshly over at Kyle and Isabel before she continued, looking Michael straight in the eye, "but Liz is my best friend and I'll be damned if I don't help save her. She's been there for me more than anybody else and despite my feelings for you, I'm not gonna obey you like some little scared girl. I'll do just what she'd do for me. I'll grab Alex and follow you in the Jetta, because I know he's just as willing to save his friend as you are to save yours. Right, Alex?"

Alex nodded and stepped up next to her, not even speaking but his meaning was clear. He was going too.

Michael looked down at her for one long beat of silence; the mark from her fingers on his cheek almost glowing in the light from Liz's room, but Maria refused to feel guilty. She refused! Then, Michael broke their stare to look over at Isabel and Kyle and Maria bit her lip again. If he's gonna do some Czechoslovakian mumbo jumbo on me, I'll never forgive him…

Michael sighed heavily and looked down at the ground after another brief, tense pause, looking as though his world was crumbling around him. Isabel sent him an understanding look, glanced up at Alex with a look of confusion in her gaze before finally focusing on Maria, who still didn't know what was gonna happen.

"Can you get your mom's car without raising any suspicion? We'll need it for where we're going…All of us."

Maria barely held back a childish whoop of triumph as she nodded eagerly and it didn't take long before they were all seated in her mom's beat up car. Hang on Liz, Maria thought, speeding out of Roswell after pausing long enough to pick up a bewildered, but willing to help Tess, hoping that none of Kyle's father's deputies were out on the prowl that night, we're coming. Just please hang on…

Pierce's POV

"This must be what it feels like when a child gets his most anticipated wish and realizes that it's just not as good as it's supposed to be." Pierce said, not taking his gaze from the sight in front of him.

The sight being Max Evans, or whatever name he went under since that obviously couldn't be his real name given his origins, strung up by chains from the ceiling of the White Room, undergoing what in layman's terms was called torture.

Although, Pierce thought with an inwardly grimace, that is such a crude word.

The woman next to him shuddered almost unnoticeable, but Pierce didn't let on that he'd caught it. After all, it's not that long ago she was the one all but living in that room, he thought, this time allowing a small, satisfied smirk to sit on his lips. He could allow himself to be gracious in his victory.

"I have the files you asked for Sir," she stated, handing him a bunch of papers with that slight tremor in her fingers that she hadn't been able to lose since said visit in the White Room.

"Thank you, Kathleen," Pierce took the files with a small smile and briefly looked through the one on the top, labeled Isabel Evans. It barely took a minute for him to realize that there really wasn't a lot to go on. He looked back up at Kathleen, who was trying her best not to look affected by the sight of Max's torso being cut with scalpels.

"This can't be all there is. Are the other files just as unsatisfactory? I thought you knew better than to let me down like this."

Kathleen gulped. "I did my best Sir, but since that Nasedo character took me, I really didn't have a lot of time to-"

"Spare me the excuses, Agent Topolsky," Pierce didn't sneer, but it was pretty close. To cheer himself up, he looked back at Max. A little while later, he felt at ease again and set down the files on a nearby table. "How are things progressing with Miss Parker?"

It was as if the thing acting like Max Evans could actually hear him, because as soon as Pierce spoke Liz's name, he looked up from his stare at the white floor and right into Pierce's eyes, completely disregarding the white clad doctor, who was busy running a razor sharp scalpel down his torso for the tenth time.

The blood gushed out and it was obvious that the perturbed human wasn't completely happy with his victim being so calm and collected and had cut just a little deeper than was perfectly necessary.

Max's eyes were dark, almost black and the lack of any expression on his face actually managed to send something akin to a shiver down the back of Pierce's spine, but he shook it off, not willing to let his momentary weakness be seen even though it was impossible for the captured alien to see him behind the glass.

I'm the winner here, Pierce thought vindictively as he straightened himself up.

"Sir," Kathleen's voice brought him back to the here and now and he looked at her, trying not to let his unsettlement of Max's behavior show on his face. "Liz Parker is just a child compared to that one in there; she's hurt and in a lot of pain and I…Honestly, Sir, I mean no disrespect, but I can't see the benefit of torturing Liz."

Pierce smirked and slowly looked back at Max, narrowing his eyes when he saw that the alien hadn't moved his head an inch. Unable to take that attitude anymore, he reached out and pressed a button. There was a pause inside the White Room and the man, who'd been calmly taking his so called care of Max, stopped immediately and looked over at the place where he knew his superior, was standing.

"Take a break and go focus on the female." The effect of those words was instant; and not entirely what Pierce had expected.

Max stiffened and his already dark eyes darkened even more and the snarl on his lips made him look almost feral; his fingers clenched in his bindings and as if in slow motion Max somehow managed to rip through them, cutting up his wrist with no regard for his personal safety and all of that happened even though it was supposed to be impossible – the first thing Pierce had had done was inject Max with the power suppressing serum that they'd developed during their experiments on the original aliens in their possession.

Pierce had only just pressed the alarm button when Max had unceremoniously snapped the neck of the middle aged man, who'd been delighting in his pain for the last several hours and as four suit wearing agents stormed inside the White Room to subdue him, Max's head was turned towards where Pierce was still standing immobile, somehow paralyzed by the pure hate poured out of those dark eyes.

"If you lay one more finger on her, I will kill you in the most hideous way imaginable," Max growled even as three of the agents kept beating on his already abused body. It was as if he didn't feel any of it as he continued threateningly, "and I've got a lot of imagination – just ask your Agent Topolsky."

Finally, the fourth agent had determined, just as everyone else, that beating Max Evans into submission was a dead end and took out his personal tazer that was issued to all federal agents and planted it straight into Max's throat. The insane looking alien teenager dropped like a sack of potatoes, thrashing violently in the process.

Not admitting it out loud, Pierce silently enjoyed the view for a few more moments before turning back to an extremely pale looking Kathleen. "Now that is taken care of, I will let you go in search of our departed doctor's second in command to take over his responsibilities. I'm sure he's just as inventive as his predecessor."

"Sir…What about Liz Parker?" Kathleen's voice stopped him just as he reached the door to the hallway.

Smiling slightly, Pierce turned around and said calmly, "I'll handle the little Miss Parker in the interim, don't you worry, Agent Topolsky."

With one final nod, the Special Unit's leader made his way down the hall and stopped in front of the guarded door where he knew he'd find Liz Parker, chained to one of the interrogation chairs; her broken arm still uncared for simply due to the spiteful part of Pierce. As long as Max Evans wasn't cooperating, she wouldn't be getting any medical help.

Besides, he thought running a hand through his already smooth hair, making sure his attire was as flawless as always, it's not like she won't be needing it again later anyway if Max keeps beings so self-centered.

Just as he reached out to open the door, nodding briefly at the guard standing at attention next to it, Pierce was suddenly filled with the memory of Max's guttural threat; "if you lay one more finger on her, I will kill you in the most hideous way imaginable."

It took a little while, but eventually Pierce fought down the unexpected quiver those words brought him and he took a deep breath and entered the room with one thought only.

I'm not going to let that creature intimidate me; I'm the master in this scenario.

0o0o0

Pierce exited Liz Parker's holding cell with a mix between a satisfied and weary sigh. He wasn't entirely happy about having to curb his natural tendency to go all out on the obviously brainwashed girl, who'd turned traitor to her race, but he had enjoyed using all of his abilities to hit her where it hurt most; her mind.

Looking down at the device in his hand, Pierce smirked slightly; it was a fairly new invention, which looked like a more technical version of a virtual reality helmet for computer gaming systems. It had been an instant hit in the Interrogation Units across the country – at least in those divisions that were enough in the dark to justify scaring the life out of their hostages, Pierce thought, handing the device to the stone faced guard by the door.

As he slowly made his way back to the White Room to see how much Max had come to realize that actions really had severe consequences, Pierce thought back on the hour he'd spent with Liz Parker. First, she'd been crying and begging for help, mercy, anything really, but it hadn't lasted very long.

In fact, Pierce thought, placing his hand on the scanner by the entrance into that section of the base that held the White Room, she seemed to grow a spine surprisingly fast. These kids may be traitors and alien scum, but they sure do have guts.

The image of Liz's tear stained face as he'd removed the device from her head that had just shown her violent images of all of her friends and family dying, came to the agent's mind as he finally reached his destination. He ignored the small part of him that had repressed a shudder as Liz had spat at his feet and said just one thing.

"I can feel Max right now and no matter what's going to happen with us, he's going to make you hurt more than us; mark my words."

The certainty in the exhausted teenager's voice and eyes had hit something inside of the older man, but he'd shaken it off and slapped her hard, cracking her lip in the process.

"Sir," an agent stopped in front of him, looking a bit bemused as to why Pierce was just standing frozen in front of the White Room, "the hostile woke pretty soon after you left and no matter what we've done, he's shaken it off…except…" The younger agent trailed off and only continued when Pierce raised an eyebrow in question, "except for about ten minutes ago; he started roaring like some sort of animal and once again managed to get one hand free from his bindings despite it being broken. We subdued him with tranquilizers, but Agent Stevenson will need medical leave. I have to admit I'm confused as to why the serum isn't having much of an effect."

Ten minutes ago, Pierce frowned, looking down at his right hand, it was around that time I struck Liz. Can he somehow feel how she's been treated? The very idea seemed preposterous to the logical agent, but then he once more heard Liz's hoarse voice in his head.

"I can feel Max right now and no matter what's going to happen with us, he's going to make you hurt more than us; mark my words."

"I have no doubt that the serum is merely taking a bit longer to work on him than the original batch due to his human DNA," Pierce changed the subject, since he really hated not knowing all the answers. "How is the hostile doing now?" Pierce managed to force down the small shudder that had somehow escaped him and looked his subordinate straight into the eyes, giving none of his personal feelings away.

"He's somehow still awake and keep on muttering, "you promised," whenever he sees Agent Topolsky in the room. We had to send her away after the third time due to her still fragile emotional state." There was a small tone of disapproval in the younger man's voice; evidently, he wasn't approving of Pierce's decision to clear Kathleen for active duty after the last few months she'd had.

"Well, let's go in and see if we can't get the young man to think of something else than my agents." Pierce said and entered the White Room, enjoying the sight of the clearly injured alien for a second, before realizing with a start that the subject still wasn't even remotely broken.

Max Evans was glaring with cold eyes at him and once more it was like an invisible grip was taking hold of him and choking him. No human would ever look so dangerous, Pierce thought, forcing his feet to keep moving forward with a bit of an internal struggle that fortunately wasn't visible to the naked eye.

"Really Max, if you still have energy to pout like that, you should've let my men take more care of you." Pierce gestured to some of the cautious looking medics in the room, who approached the silent Max with hesitation as if he was a wild animal.

I'm not scared of you, Pierce thought out to the deceptively looking teen, I'm just protecting my country and I will break you. He rolled up his sleeves as he decided to get more involved in the process himself. A moment later, the White Room echoed with the sounds of knuckles hitting skin, but it didn't quite soothe the unnerved part of Pierce, since Max Evans never once broke eye contact during the violent treatment. It was like the young man was just waiting for an opportunity to strike out once more, like a patient rattlesnake.

I'm not going to be afraid of you!

Michael's POV

Maria was ignoring him and staring straight ahead as she drove towards the destination that Michael had told her to in an admittedly grouchy tone of voice. For once, it didn't hurt him since he too was busy ignoring her. At least on the outside…

I can't believe she can't understand how dangerous this is gonna get, Michael fumed as he mentally prepared himself for battle once more. I wish she wasn't so God damned stubborn!

Isabel sent her own looks at a silent Alex, who was rubbing his temples in what appeared to be a splitting headache and Michael tried calming down a little. It's not like I'm the only one with someone to lose on the line, he mused. The thought of Max and Liz entered his mind and his fists clenched automatically. It dawned on the large hybrid that despite his frustration with Maria, at least she was still safe and sound by his side.

It must be hell on Max right now, Michael sympathized with an internal wince, going through all of what we've already done only to have Liz targeted. If something like that happened to Maria… The very idea sent shivers of pure fear through him and he noticed Maria flinch and look back at him briefly. It would seem that he'd been broadcasting a little too clearly through their connection.

Michael didn't get a lot more time to worry about anything, because in the next minute, they reached the hidden base at long last. He and Isabel had already gone over what they knew about the place, skimming over the part of just where they'd learned all of their knowledge and they'd planned to split into two groups to decrease the chances of getting caught before they'd rescued Max and Liz.

Tess, Kyle, and Alex went in search for Liz while Michael, Isabel and Maria went to go find Max. Being back in the place where a lot of things had started made Michael feel incredibly old all of the sudden. He glanced behind him and saw that Isabel was taking up the back, covering them in case of difficulties. She too was in combat mode and looked ready to do some serious damage. It seemed like old times in more ways than one, Michael reminisced uncomfortably. Except, the Maria I knew didn't walk down the hall muttering, 'I'm so so so screwed', whenever we infiltrated enemy compounds…

Before too long, Michael spotted that infernal scanner that had caused him so much trouble once before and he quickly hand signaled Isabel to keep Maria safe as he quickly changed his clothes into a black suit and slicked his hair back. A moment later, he was through the scanner easily since he wasn't really as inexperienced as he looked anymore and had, without any reservations whatsoever, killed the guards standing there. After disposing of the bodies by using some disintegrating technique that Sydney had taught him to master one memorable birthday, Michael signaled for the girls to rejoin him.

Fortunately, Maria hadn't seen the killing, focusing only on not getting caught by other errant guards that inevitably would have to arrive at some point, so Michael let out a breath of relief he didn't know he'd been holding. He wasn't sorry about the deaths he'd just caused per say, having been in the same situation too many times before to keep being merciful, but he'd hate it if Maria started fearing the darker side of him before she understood everything.

"Do you remember the way?" Isabel asked, still looking around for any potential threat. Michael nodded and quickly took point and did his best to shield the love of his life, who was now starting to get over her paralyzing fear and focus on her surroundings a bit more.

"There it is," Michael pointed at the door in the distance, where one other guard was posted. He was sitting by a chair, looking completely bored. Michael briefly felt for the unknown guy, considering his own experience of being a security guard, but he squashed it when he remembered the little fact that said guard quite possibly had been involved with Max's capture.

"Hello there," Michael sauntered up to the surprised agent, "we're a little lost and were wondering if- Okay, no need to get hasty." The agent had jumped to his feet and begun reaching for either his gun or his communication device to call for backup and Michael quickly sent out a small version of the blast that Tess had taught him, knocking the man unconscious in an instant.

"He's in there," Michael gestured to the door as he quickly bent down and took out the gun that the agent had been carrying and the communication device, which he switched off just in case.

Maria immediately went for the door, but Isabel was faster, shoving her out of the way with a small glare. "Think, Maria." She hissed quietly, "Max is being held captive in there, there's no way they're not armed."

Maria bit her lip, looking a little sheepish, but then stepped back so the two hybrids could handle the next part of the plan.

Isabel calmly opened the door with the key card that Michael handed her which he'd swiped from the still unconscious guard. The sight that met his eyes sent a hated image through his mind of the last time his leader and best friend had looked so thoroughly injured and it was obvious from the quick sight of Max's dark eyes and expressionless face that he'd retreated into that part of himself that no one who'd seen it before ever wanted to experience again.

"Fuck," the curse was whispered, but it still caught the attention of everyone in the White Room, including the man that had been the first man that Michael ever killed.

"Seize them!" Pierce ordered, looking remarkably nothing like his usual calm and collected self. Michael spared a brief smirk at the visual. I guess Maxwell got under the pretty boy's skin more so than last time around.

Soon after that thought had entered his mind, all deliberation fled his mind as struggles began breaking out all around him and Michael was busy trying to protect Maria, who somehow seemed to think that just because she was present meant that she had to participate in the whole thing by kicking some guy's shin and private area just like she'd done to him that one time.

Isabel managed to get to Max and released him from his bindings even as she lashed out and sent out a vicious pulse of raw energy that fried one of the medic's right where he was standing. Michael spotted another operative sneak up on her while she was distracted and turned to take care of him with one quick blast that sent the guy slamming into the opposite wall.

Then everything seemed to stop as Michael saw Maria move impossibly fast out of the corner of his eye towards Pierce, who'd raised his gun towards Michael when he'd been distracted and the next thing Michael knew was the phantom burning sensation exploding inside his chest even as he watched Maria slide slowly down to the floor, clutching her chest with a wide eyed look of confusion on her face.

"MARIA!"

Michael lost it and wave after wave of agony, fear and hate enveloped his very core as he ran towards her, trying to catch her before she slammed her head into the floor. All around him, a blistering heat erupted, sending the one remaining human screaming out the door with bursting blisters all over his skin, only to be shot in the head by someone from the hallway. Pierce was already lying dead on the ground with a shocked expression on his face, but Michael didn't care about any of that right then.

It would seem that backup had arrived, but it was too late; much too late.

Michael wept and screamed even as the usually so vibrant bond that tied him to the one person he didn't want to live without again began dimming at a rapid pace. "Please, Baby, please stay with me," he pleaded over and over again, completely blind to what was happening around him.

He heard a throaty scream that wasn't his own, but took no real notice of it as Maria's gasping breaths turned more and more shallow with every intake of breath; a trail of blood ran down her chin from her mouth and further down onto his hands that were cradling her head as gently as he could. "Please Maria; don't do this to me now, not after all this, please…"

Suddenly, there were hands trying to separate him from his wife and Michael went ballistic. There was no room for rational thought when someone wanted to take his reason for being away from him. He growled and lashed out with another burst of blistering heat, until eventually someone simply pushed him off of Maria, smashing him into the ground.

The next thing Michael knew, he was being forcibly held down by a frantic looking Kyle and Alex, who looked like he wanted to puke. His eyes weren't on them for more than a few seconds before they found Maria again, barely noticing that an injured looking Liz was standing by the door being held up by Kathleen Topolsky and Tess as they all watched the dying Maria.

She was lying on the floor, still gasping violently in an attempt to stay alive and Max was leaning over her. Michael couldn't see what exactly took place, but he felt the ripples in the air that signaled the use of some pretty powerful healing. It shouldn't be possible, Michael thought as he weakly tried getting loose from his holders, if he's been injected like the last time, Max shouldn't be able to use any powers… Then Michael vaguely recalled how Max had forced them all to undergo training in suppressing the serum one long month so very long ago, in a desperate attempt of getting the upper hand against Khivar's forces. No one had really succeeded in their task, so that's why Michael was completely shocked at what was happening.

Even if he's managed somehow, he thought, not even daring to blink as Max's bloodied back trembled in front of him, obscuring any real view of what was happening; he's exhausted and hurt. He can't heal her as well as he could if he was healthy…

Never before had Michael lamented his own lack of ability with healing someone; he fervently prayed for a miracle and despite his disbelief, it seemed like Max was coming through for him regardless of his own obvious wounds.

He knew it'd worked even before Maria whispered his name underneath Max; he'd felt their bond thrumming to life with a burst of adrenaline rush that gave him the strength to shake off Kyle and Alex's hold on him and crawl towards Maria.

"Baby?" he whispered, unashamedly weeping at the sight of the nonexistent bullet hole in her chest that the massive quantities of blood couldn't hide. "Maria…"

Before Michael could take Maria in his arms, Max straightened up and shook his head with a familiar look on his pale face. It was only Michael's quick reaction that caught the dark-haired hybrid before he tilted backwards with a moan of Liz's name on his bloodless lips.

0o0o0

"So can I look forward to antennas or a third eye or something now?" The question came from a sleepy Maria, who was cuddled up into his arms as Kyle drove them back to Roswell. Isabel was driving behind them in Kathleen's car with Alex, Liz, Max and Tess.

"We'll talk about it later," Michael murmured soothingly, taking a firmer grip on her as she succumbed to sleep.

Michael sighed and looked back up, not looking back at the sight they'd left behind as they fled. Isabel had completely demolished the base after spending a little time in Pierce's office with Kathleen.

The first thing Michael had wanted to do after they'd placed a comatose Max in Liz's lap in the Jetta and he'd hugged Maria, was to go after the weary agent, who'd obviously sold them all out for her own life. But after some real hasty explanation on Kyle's part, it seemed like the agent had actually been working with Max the entire time. She'd apparently told him everything when they'd found her trying to free Liz after killing the guard.

"She agreed to hold out under torture as long as she could, before pretending to betray us to Pierce. She was supposed to work her way back into his good side and ruin the Special Unit from within, since we don't have Nasedo to do it for us." Kyle had smiled ruefully, "it would've worked too if Liz hadn't hid herself in Max's Jeep and blown the plan to bits."

Michael frowned as he glanced over at the quietly shivering agent, who sat next to him with a lost expression on her face. She did all of that for us and then Max went and got himself caught, she really must hate us all more than anyone right now.

In the end, Kathleen had taken Isabel to every computer and file cabinet in the place so she could melt them to oblivion before she torched the place to the ground. They decided to trust that the former undercover counselor was telling them the truth when she swore that no Intel about Max's captivity had been sent out before they'd showed up. Evidently, Pierce had wanted to experiment a bit on Max before alerting his superiors.

At least we got Pierce and ruined the base before that Skin lady could worm her way in, Michael thought, planting a soft kiss on Maria's brow. No matter what happens next, we're still on top compared to what happened last time in my book…

A little while later, both cars pulled into Tess' driveway and with a little effort they managed to get Max safely inside under the cover of darkness and then they all just fell into the nearest seat available, ready to take a much needed break from everything.

Michael took Maria to one of the unused guest bedrooms and quickly managed to manipulate some towels into bed sheets before lying down next to her still sleeping form with a sigh of contentment. He decided to worry about Max's state, about the possible repercussions of their actions the next day and just closed his eyes to get some hard earned sleep.

He smiled, already halfway sleeping when he felt Maria scooting closer to him with her own sigh of satisfaction.

TBC…


	25. Maria, Tess, Max and Kathleen

Maria's POV

Maria stood next to a pale Liz, who was busy letting her parents fawn all over her and her broken arm. The Parker's had dropped whatever they'd been doing as soon as Liz made her way into the Crashdown with Maria and Alex trailing after her.

Maria stood silently by as Liz once again muttered their hastily made pre-planned story to her worried parents. "It was just a bad fall, you guys. It wasn't anything serious and Maria and Alex already took me to the hospital and I'm fine now. I just didn't want to go to school today though."

The tone was surprisingly lively and Maria was secretly impressed by her best friend's ability to lie, but unlike the Parkers, who immediately agreed that school was too strenuous that day, she recognized the subtle signs that Liz couldn't quite hide. Are you really as fine as you say you are Liz? You've been so quiet ever since we got to you; you just sat there in your own little world, not even noticing that the boy you're having feelings for was desperate to touch you.

The memory of Max's none too subtle attempts at staying near Liz at the breakfast table that Tess and Isabel had prepared when Maria stumbled out of the bed she'd shared with Michael, flashed through her mind and that inevitably caused her to remember everything that had happened and how it culminated with the abrupt pain in her chest and the panic she'd barely kept from sending out to Michael.

The hot blood gushing out of her without any resistance, the tears burning her cheeks as they slid uncontrollably down her skin, the growing desperation that she just couldn't seem to see the boy screaming out her name so intensely….

No, Maria shook her head and forced that particular incident out of her head, Max saved me and that's that. Stop thinking about it!

It took a little effort, but eventually Maria did what she did best; turned her ministrations into being a good friend instead of dealing with her own feelings. She followed a silent Liz up to her bedroom and as if they'd agreed already, both girls went into Liz's bathroom and got ready for a day of girl time.

They'd already called in sick at school when they'd woken up in Tess' place, and Mr. Parker had straight away called in two of his rarely used waitress' and more or less ordered Agnes in as well. Maria mentally snorted when she recalled the pale taint of the man's skin as he stuttered through that particular conversation before she put on one of Liz's pajamas and followed her best friend into her big bed where they proceeded to just lie silently next to each other.

Maria turned her head and found Liz staring unblinkingly up at her ceiling and the unfamiliar look in the other girl's usually so lively eyes caused Maria to reach out and clasp Liz's hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. "It's gonna be okay," she whispered.

Liz turned her head as well and met Maria's gaze softly, "Don't worry about me, Maria. I'm just trying to get it all right in my head for now. I should be concerned about you instead; you haven't exactly had the greatest couple of days yourself." At the end of the sentence, Liz's voice turned hoarse and her eyes swelled with tears.

"I could've lost my best friend and it would've all been my fault. I'm so sorry Maria!"

Next thing she knew, Liz had wrapped her arms around her and was all but sobbing into her neck. That more than anything broke Maria's steely resolve not to ponder about everything too much and soon the burning in her eyes had transformed into big, tears as well.

"Is this a private party or can anyone join?" Alex's voice startled the two girls and Maria sat up, still crying violently.

Liz's state of mind was still all over the place, because she instantly started apologizing to him as well and Maria just patted the bed and re-clasped Liz's trembling hand – a little afraid of the brunette's emotions seeing as Liz had never been the most emotionally driven girl in their relationship. "There's always room for you, you know that."

Ten minutes later, Alex had donned a pair of his sweats and a T-shirt that he had stashed in Liz's closet since this sleepover was far from the first one they'd ever participated in together.

With Alex there, Maria felt more at ease for some reason. He'd laid down in the bed with Liz still weeping and Maria hadn't been able to stop either and a few moments went by before Maria felt his calm envelope her like a blanket and she felt safe like she hadn't felt since getting out of the bed she'd shared with Michael that morning.

"We're gonna get through this," she muttered lowly as she gradually succumbed to an exhaustion that didn't feel completely natural, "as long as we're all okay, we're gonna make it through this."

Alex and a now much calmer Liz murmured their agreement sleepily and before she knew it, Maria fell into a peaceful slumber despite the fact that it was barely noon.

Tess' POV

Fear, anger, desperation and hate churned in her gut and made her react instinctively. His fear and hate burned itself into her as she somehow reached out and- NO!

Tess gasped as she jumped upwards from the couch where she'd managed to fall asleep after everyone had filed out of her house more or less awake earlier this, Tess glanced at the clock on the wall and grimaced, well, earlier this morning.

Judging from the dusk settling outside her living room window, she'd been asleep a lot longer than she'd anticipated and she wasn't surprised to feel the pain in her neck when she straightened her spine as she stood up fully.

The nightmarish dream came back to her as she wandered from the living room and into the kitchen to make herself a snack. She'd been dreaming about what had happened when she'd run into that hellish white room that had probably seen more blood than most prisons put together.

Pierce had just shot Maria and was re-aiming when Tess had let rage engulf her in a way she'd seldom, if ever, had experienced before. Before she knew what she was doing really, her hand had come up and she'd sent the most vicious illusion straight into Pierce's already overworked mind and even though it had seemed like his death had been instantaneous, Tess knew that he'd died screaming in agony over and over again in a hell solely created by her and for the life of her, she couldn't find it in her to feel guilty about it.

He almost killed one of my first ever friends, Tess rationalized as she mechanically poured some Tabasco sauce all over her peanut and jelly sandwich and started chewing. He tortured my first ever friend and I can't even begin to comprehend what he put Max through.

The image of the man she'd once married ran through her mind and Tess lost the last of her barely there appetite. Max had looked feral and judging from the dried and fresh blood on his person, he'd been through a lot while they'd scrambled around to prepare their rescue mission.

He looked so strong even when he was toppling over after healing Maria, Tess thought as she absentmindedly cleaned the dishes that no one had had the energy to do that morning, too occupied with her thoughts to even contemplate using her powers for the menial task. Him and the others aren't weakened at all by their human DNA like Nasedo used to say when he trained me. And neither am I.

Tess sighed and finished her task before deciding to go for a walk to clear out the memory of Pierce's death that kept playing at a loop inside her mind even as she thought about other things.

A half an hour later, Tess reached the town square and tiredly sat down on one of the benches placed there to gather the energy to get back home. She smiled a little at the thought that she actually considered the little house that her guardian had only bought as a cover to be her home these days.

"Things have gotten so messed up," she whispered into the night, closing her eyes tiredly.

"Tell me about it," a familiar voice said and Tess flinched as she recognized Kyle of all people in the middle of sitting down next to her. "Hey Tess." He nodded calmly and she had a brief moment to be thankful for the fact that for once he seemed to actually not hate her, before he spoke again.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like crap."

Rolling her eyes, Tess leaned back on the bench and just snorted. "Right, 'cause out of all of us I was the one that had to drink four cups of coffee this morning just to stay awake."

"I didn't sleep," Kyle pointed out, before chuckling a little when Tess' raised brow reminded him that neither did she. "Okay, fair point. So, I was actually looking for you."

Tess frowned, not really believing a word of what Kyle said, but before she could point that out, the human chuckled a little again, "Yeah, it sounds unbelievable I know. But," he smirked and for one moment, he looked just like the friendly guy, who'd been so welcoming to her, before she'd screwed things up by mindwarping him, "I'm actually here on the account of someone else."

"What do you mean?" Tess turned to look him closer in the eye and Kyle sighed before he replied quietly.

"Max wants us all back at your place as soon as possible; or…" he shrugged looking deceptively calm, which for some peculiar reason, Tess just knew that he wasn't, "Well, he just wants the four of you out-of-towners', really. He said something about needing the power of four for something."

"Wait," Tess bit her lip nervously as she mulled over that piece of information. "You're saying that Max and the others actually need me? They want to include me? But they don't trust me."

"After what we've been through together, Tess, I don't think that's a problem anymore. You proved you're not like you use…Like we thought." Tess had a feeling that he'd been about to say something massively different, but let Kyle believe that she didn't notice.

Instead, she simply snorted derisively, her earlier self-loathing suddenly reemerging at the thought of their little adventure in the Special Unit's department. "Oh yeah, I'm just super duper sweet and all it took for you people to really believe in me was me killing a man in cold blood."

Kyle's lips twitched as though he was going to smile of her and Tess lost her temper.

"You have no idea what I'm going through, right now, Kyle!" She yelled, standing up and facing him fully, "I killed a man and tortured him! And I would do it all over again and it's freaking me out. I miss Nasedo; at least he wouldn't smirk at me like I'm some little girl. I mean," Tess took at deep breath and continued, suddenly unable to keep everything bottled up anymore. "He might be completely crazy, but at least he knows what it feels like to take a life, Kyle. You and the others are not even capable of grasping what it's like! I hate that my life has turned into this mess and I'm starting to think that I'm just as evil as Nasedo is, 'cause I'd do it again in a heartbeat to protect my friends, so don't you dare laugh at me – especially since you hated my guts not that long ago!"

Sending a heated glare as she finished her tirade, Tess spun around and began walking back home. Her exhaustion now chased away by her anger she picked up the pace until she was running in a dead run.

Suddenly, though, Kyle was in front of her and stopped her by grasping her arms roughly and he shook her a little bit and then said hoarsely, "Tess; calm down! You've got everything mixed up, Girl. You're not evil for protecting us all; hell, I'm fucking proud of you for killing that son of a bitch when no one else could. Trust me, he's had it coming."

The feeling of Kyle's warm fingers on her skin, sent a spike of something unfamiliar through Tess, but she forgot about it, when she somehow ended up hearing him murmur, 'Congratulating her for being a murderer is something I'd never expected to do. What a fucked up life we live,' despite the fact that she was looking right at him and knew without a shadow of a doubt that he hadn't moved his lips.

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, Kyle instantly released her with a startled gasp and took a few steps back. "You heard that?" he asked, looking decidedly pale all of the sudden.

"Yeah. What's going on, Kyle? I thought only we could do that."

"Forget about it, Tess." Kyle was suddenly all tense and didn't look her in the eyes anymore and for some reason that got to Tess more than anything else, so she just took a deep breath and screamed her anger out – not caring that beside her, several of the windows of the parked cars on the lot suddenly exploded into a million pieces.

"Tess!" Kyle's voice reached her as if far away, but she didn't care and just kept on howling like a mad woman. Until, suddenly Kyle's warm hands were on her face and the next thing she knew his soft lips slanted over hers in a bruising kiss that froze her solid from the inside out even as several unfamiliar emotions seemed to burst out through her skin and into his.

How long she stood there with Kyle, Tess didn't know, but suddenly she was alone and feeling bereft like a big part of her was missing. She caught a glimpse of Kyle's hastily retreating form in the distance and unbeknownst to her, the two of them were holding a hand on the same spot on their torso, just above the navel and sharing the same thought of, "what the hell was that?"

Max's POV

Max pulled up to Tess' place with Michael, Isabel and Kathleen in his jeep. The sun was down and there was an edgy silence in the car that didn't seem to want to go away, despite the fact that only just that morning, they'd all been a lot less stiff after their dramatic adventure.

I guess people have had time to process everything a bit more now, Max decided, turning off the ignition with a soft, weary sigh that sent a shiver of pain up his side. He'd been asleep ever since coming back home that morning, lying next to an equally worn out Isabel, so he hadn't had time to heal himself yet. Fortunately their parents had already left for work, so no explanations as to their unusual state had to be made.

Somehow I don't think they'd react all that well to my current appearance so hopefully I'll still have some powers left after we're done here tonight to take care of it, Max thought and glanced briefly at himself in the rearview mirror. He had a black eye and several cuts and bruises on his skin that Max knew from his quick shower earlier went all the way down his body with a lot of bigger gashes from those damnable scalpels that Pierce's goons seemed to favorite.

Max blinked out of his thoughts when Isabel opened the door to the passenger seat and tried not to dwell on the insistent memories of his experience that was clawing around on the edge of his mind. Besides, Max thought as he too vacated the jeep, reaching out a hand to support Kathleen, who was still looking like she could use a week's worth of sleep and serenity, I've been through much worse than this. It's not like it was my first time being tortured…

Max shook his head as he recalled with a sinking heart that unlike him though, Liz hadn't been through this kind of thing before and understandably she was shaken by the whole experience.

It's like she went into herself and doesn't feel safe to come out yet, Max pondered, following Michael's lead as he walked up to Tess' front door. She barely spoke a word, not even when I woke up with my head in her lap.

The bond hadn't been much help, too overfilled with echoes of fear, anger, guilt and pain to make much sense at all. Max honestly didn't know where his emotions began and Liz's ended and ever since he'd driven her and Maria back to her place that morning, the bond had been almost completely silent and it was making him more and more nervous.

"Maxwell, get inside before you attract attention from the neighbors," Michael's order brought Max back to the present and he hurried to comply, ignoring the stab of pain his quick movement cost him.

Once inside the living room, Tess was eying them all with a mixture of curiousness and anxiousness and Max found himself frowning a bit at the odd look in her eyes. She seemed like she'd repeatedly walked into a wall and didn't quite know how to stop doing it.

With a sigh, Max put it out of his mind, deciding to take a moment later to talk privately with her; if for nothing else, than at least to thank her for eliminating Pierce when he'd been unable to. Then he carefully straightened himself up as much as his injuries allowed and started speaking.

"Thank you Tess for letting us use your place for this even if you have no idea what it is yet." Tess' lip turned into a small smile and Max continued with a look at Isabel and Michael, who was sitting with a creepy silent Kathleen between them, "I've talked this over with Kathleen earlier and we all agree that she deserves to get her life back and that's where you come in."

Tess' brow furrowed deeply, "me? What can I do?"

"It's pretty obvious if you think about it," Isabel spoke up, staring with a surprising amount of friendliness at the curly haired hybrid, who'd stiffened at her words.

"You…you want me to mindwarp her?" She raised a hand in Kathleen's direction without looking away from Isabel. "You out of everyone have always been disgusted with my power and now you want me to actively use it? I've gotta admit to being pretty damn confused here."

"Kate deserves peace of mind," Michael spoke up, nodding at the still quiet F.B.I. agent. "She's been through a lot of crap lately and I'm not just talking about your psycho guardian going all postal on her, but Pierce too. We can't mindwarp, but you can so if you'd be kind enough to help us out, it'd be cool."

"But," Tess hesitated and Max had never been more sure that this young girl was nothing like the Tess he'd once believed himself to care for, "I don't know if it'll hold. And I don't want to risk losing the ground I've gained with you all by not doing what you want well enough."

"We're going to join hands and send you some of our strength," Max soothed softly at the sight of genuine anxiety in her eyes. "It'd be like what we did when I healed you. Our powers intensify if we meld them together. We can't do this properly without you Tess."

Tess bit her lip, which Max idly noticed was a bit swollen and he worried that she'd been cooped up all day biting her lips over what she'd done to Pierce, but chose not to comment on it.

"I do want to help, don't get me wrong, but what should I make you forget and what do you want to remember?" Tess directed her questions at Kathleen, who blinked once and answered almost inaudibly.

"I just want a normal life."

"Okay," Tess agreed and looked around the others for help. "What happens next?"

Max smiled with relief, since he'd originally been the one to convince the undercover agent to hold on so fervently to her belief that they could all be trusted, it meant a lot to him to be able to repay her for her assistance. Also, Max thought gravely, if I can't help Liz out with her bad memories, at least Kathleen will regain some peace of mind…

He gingerly turned to his side where he'd carefully set down the bag he'd been carrying and opened it to reveal some very familiar healing stones. "We use these."

Tess' lips parted before they transformed into a much more confident smile. "Okay then; let's start."

It took about ten minutes or so to set things up and sit down in a circle with Kathleen poised in the middle, looking rather forlorn and insecure and yet, Max could also spot some of that steely resolve in her that he knew had helped carry her through the last few hellish months of her life.

You helped me, he thought intently; filled with gratitude, now let us help you as much as we can.

"Each of you place one hand on the stone placed in front of you," Isabel ordered softly and continued, "and the other one should be on Kathleen's skin. You'll have to take off your sweater," she added gently to the agent.

"All right," Kathleen nodded and quickly did as she was told. Max held in a small gasp at the sight of scars on her body; scars that were similar to the fresh wounds on his own body. "Let's get this done before I lose my nerve."

Max sent her a small smile and reached out as the first one to touch her bare arm, squeezing it at first in a silent show of support. The older woman's answering smile warmed him and a moment later, Tess, Michael and Isabel had placed their hand on her as well, distracting their little moment.

"You have to look at me," Tess' voice rang through the suddenly eerily silent room and Max closed his eyes when the stones slowly began to glow more and more, nearly blinding him and instead he concentrated on sending out as much power as he could to help Tess solidify her mindwarp completely.

The tension in the room build up to a nearly painful level and Max knew privately that he was sending way more energy into Kathleen's mindwarp than he could really afford to spare in his condition, but he didn't care; too focused on healing at least one woman's horrible memories to the best of his abilities. He could feel some of that power beginning to heal all of her scarring and bruising and tried sending even more to her in case the healing required more.

Suddenly, Kathleen began to scream and Max quickly opened his eyes again to watch Tess catapult forward and grasp the human woman's head firmly in her hands, keeping the small healing stone in constant contact with her own skin as well; "You have to endure it, Kate," Tess hissed breathlessly, "I'm nearly finished. Just. One. More. Second!" She screamed out the last word and the next thing Max knew, he was being slammed backwards into the wall by an invisible force field that seemed to expand from the two females in the middle of their little circle and then just as he realized that his agonizing injuries had reopened, everything went blissfully black.

0o0o0

"You are without a doubt the most stubborn man, I've ever met." Her voice was hard and rough, but the shine of unshed tears in her brown eyes gave her away.

Max grinned weakly, "Technically, I'm not exactly a man." She rolled her eyes and he winced when he tried chuckling at her. She was immediately by his side, helping him upright as he began coughing.

"I really wish we had people that could do what you do, healing wise." She muttered, stroking his hair; the only part of his body that didn't ache or burn at all. "This was really too close, Max."

"Liz…" Gently lying back down on the makeshift bed, Max sighed heavily. "I couldn't let him win and he'd have won if I'd let him take Michael and Eric. He's always been really interested in those damn kids and their powers, you know that and-"

Liz interrupted, her mouth set in a firm line now that he seemed to have regained his breath. "You don't always have to be the one to save us, Max. You may be the strongest power wise, but that doesn't mean that we aren't all prepared to die for what we believe in just like you."

The thought of losing her pierced his already aching chest and disregarding his wounds, Max sat back up and took her too skinny face in his nail less hands. "You, Liz Parker-Evans aren't allowed to die. I wouldn't be able to bear it."

"How do you think I feel about you being trapped and hurt like that, Max?" Her voice quavered and one lone tear ran down her gaunt face that to him was still the most beautiful visage in the world. "I won't lose you if I can help it. You've already suffered so much, and I love you too much to stand idly by another time. I won't do it again, Max, no matter what you say."

Max nodded in solemn respect for her words, but inwardly he knew that he'd rather let himself be killed than let his wife die for him. It just wouldn't happen.

"I love you, Liz." He tried distracting her, but to his mild surprise, Liz copied his move and grabbed a gentle hold of his bandaged face and stared at him for a long minute.

"I will not lose you to this war, I swear it Max Evans; I love you too much. Trust me on that…"

There was a pounding in his head and his heart was beating way too fast, but Max couldn't rip himself out of what he knew to be a memory; he tried and tried with all his might, because he knew that whenever he dreamt about that moment between him and Liz, another one always followed, a darker, much more mocking one…

"Max!"

Her voice was frantic and hoarse, as if she'd screamed his name over and over again; but he still thought it was the most precious sound in the world. And hearing it now scared him more than anything he'd ever felt and all he wanted was to get out of his restraints to somehow get her out of here.

"L-Liz," he gurgled her name, the blood from the newest beating he'd taken spilling out of his mouth and he cursed his weakness.

"He's dreaming, Michael." Isabel's voice sounded close by, overlying the sounds of battle and Liz's cries for him, but still, Max couldn't get out of his own mind.

Michael's voice was right next to him and Max could even feel his friend's breath on his face when he replied to his sister, "He's spent too much juice, Iz. He was bound to crash sometime. I've seen this before and he won't wake up unless he's in physical pain."

Pain, oh excruciating ache; someone was carrying him away from the place where Liz had died for him and he couldn't do anything. "Liz!" Her name was all his abused throat could manage and he clawed weakly at whomever it was that was keeping him from running back inside and somehow undoing what had just happened.

"Looks like he's hurting with all those wounds," another voice echoed over Max's nightmare and he was grateful that he was a little distracted from reliving the worst memory of his entire existence.

"Fuck it – I'm waking him up," Michael's old impatience seemed to break through and suddenly the mental agony Max was reluctantly reliving was being overwritten with some very real pain that sliced through one of his not yet healed gashes. Vaguely, Max knew that his brother in all but blood had ripped the wound open and pinched it harshly and even though it hurt like hell, he was still grateful.

"ARGH!" That didn't mean it didn't hurt though.

"Max!"

Gasping for air, Max sat up, clenching his hands over Michael's that were still on his now very fresh injury, subconsciously stopping him from bringing him more pain. He felt the nightmare slowly trickle away into that corner of his mind that was reserved for thoughts of his old life and exhaled carefully in relief – he was back in his own body again, so to speak.

"Help me get up, please," he looked at Michael and ignored the two pale faces of the female hybrids standing around him. As Michael's strong arm slowly helped Max back on his feet, he had to lean most of his weight on him because everything started spinning and it took him awhile to gain his equilibrium back.

"When you get home tonight," Isabel stated, wrapping one arm around him and enveloping him with her familiar scent of flowers and well…her, "we're going straight back to bed and you won't leave until you've gotten all of your energy back."

"That will only happen after I've talked with Liz," Max said, but quickly agreed to his smothering sister's demands before turning his attention back on the still form of Kathleen, who was lying unconscious on the floor where he'd last seen her.

"So how do we do this? I hadn't really expected her to go down like that, so we need a plan to smuggle her into her apartment without getting noticed." Even as he said the words, Max knew that once again they'd be relying on Tess' powers and he couldn't help but laugh inwardly at it all. Just a few days ago, they'd all greatly despised her ability to mindwarp and now they were beginning to use it more and more just like they had in their original timeline.

Well, at least I'm pretty sure this time that she's not a backstabbing murderer, Max thought as he nodded to Tess, who'd volunteered to help with getting Kathleen back home.

0o0o0

The birds were beginning to chirp outside his window, and Max could see the dawn inching closer by the minute from his place next to Isabel's sleeping form in his room. Unlike his sister, he'd been unable to get much sleep after they'd all somehow managed to sneak Kathleen into her bed and leave undetected.

He was bone tired, but every time he started dozing off, an image of Liz's terrified face woke him right back up and he was at the end of his rope. With a sigh, he got out of the bed and swallowed back a wince when his abused ribs protested the movement. He glanced at the mirror that hung in the hallway and closed his eyes to measure how much energy he had managed to get back from his sort of rest.

There's enough for me to take care of some of these annoyances, Max decided and swept his now glowing hands over his naked upper body, closing up cuts and vanishing bruises as he went. His ribs groaned internally before there was a silent pop and the soreness disappeared.

Max decided against using the rest of his meager powers to heal his bruised face, promising to use an excuse of being in a fight if anyone bothered to ask.

Now feeling a lot more human so to speak, Max quickly showered and put on some clean clothes and he staggered down to the kitchen to grab something to eat, knowing that his use of powers would come back to haunt him soon if he didn't.

Finally, after quickly choking down some hastily made breakfast, Max wrote a quick note to his sister before running to the jeep to go to Liz's house. He just really needed to make sure she was all right because with each passing minute, Max's feeling of unease from her side of their connection seemed to expand and he was filled with stress and worry by the time he pulled into the parking lot behind the Crashdown.

She feels like she's completely shut down, Max realized when he gracefully climbed up to the small terrace in front of Liz's room. Not that I blame her of course, she's not able to handle these things like us who've already lived through it once and- whoa!

Max froze in surprise, barely refraining from letting his instinct sending out a blast to attack the one who'd frightened him. There, sitting quietly and staring up at the dawn was Liz and by the looks of things, she had been sitting there for quite a while.

"Hey Max," she muttered without looking at him, keeping her eyes trained on the brightening sky. The tone in her voice resonated within him, telling the once alien king that things were not at all well with the girl he loved.

"Are you okay?" Max unfroze and cautiously made his way closer to Liz's side, sitting down on the edge of her patio chair. "I mean," he smiled a little, "I know it's a pretty stupid thing to ask all things considered, but…"

Liz finally turned her head in his direction and looked him straight in the eye with a small, rueful smile playing on her lips as well. "I won't lie and say I'm completely fine, but I'm dealing. Besides," she sighed, running a hand over the journal in her lap that he only just noticed being there. "It was my own fault. I should've trusted you and I didn't and I'm sorry."

Max couldn't stop himself from touching her any longer as Liz continued softly, "It's because of me you got hurt, and I wish I could take it all back but I can't."

"Liz," Max waited until her eyes met his once more before continuing intently, "I'll admit I was a little angry at you for hiding in the car, but that was only because you put yourself at risk. Don't you know by now that you're my whole world and I can't lose you again, I mean, I just can't lose you ever."

Unable to bear the sight of Liz's dead eyes, he shook her gently and tried pulling her out of her guilt in another way, "You need to process things, Liz. If you bottle it all up and don't talk about it, it's only going to get a lot worse for you. Trust me in that at least, 'cause I know what I'm talking about."

"I'll try, Max." Liz said, after a long beat of silence where the two of them just stared intensely into each other's eyes. Max frowned a little, there was a small part of him that warned him that Liz wasn't telling him everything, but he also knew her well enough to know that he couldn't push her into accepting help until she was ready. They were eerily similar in that aspect.

"Good, I'll hold you to that." Max forced a smile and took her injured arm in his hand, and tried forcing down the guilt her injury caused him before their bond snatched it up and sent it to her. "Now, do you want me to heal this? It's gonna itch though, but I can't remove the cast or else your parents will be suspicious."

Liz smiled and caressed his cheek, and Max had to snap out of the automatic urge to lean into her warm touch as she answered his question. "No, you don't have to do that. By the looks of it, you seem like you could probably use your powers on yourself instead of on me. I mean, I only hurt my arm and you suffered through a lot worse than me…"

Her eyes darkened at the memory and something flashed through them that Max couldn't quite decipher, so he hurried to distract her. "I've healed the worst of it and feel a lot better. Now…Do you wanna go downstairs for breakfast? I know your dad opens in about ten minutes anyway and you look like you could use some proper food before tackling school."

Liz grinned, but her feelings weren't in it completely and Max promised himself to get Liz to talk about things before too long so she didn't wind up exploding like he'd done on more than one occasion. "Sure, let me just go in and wake up Maria and Alex; I'm sure they're starving too – We crashed pretty early yesterday so we didn't really eat much."

"Sure," Max agreed, hating that tiny, juvenile part of him that really just wanted to spend time alone with his wife, and stood up to climb back down and enter the Crash' through the front door. He mentally shuddered at the thought of how overprotective Jeff Parker would get if he spotted him coming downstairs from Liz's room. He'd lived through hell on more than one occasion, but there weren't many people, human or not, that scared him as much as his father-in-law in a rage.

"I think you should call your sister and Michael to come too," Liz's voice brought him out of the memory of a pissed off Mr. Parker and he nodded in accord. "And I'll call T-Tess and Kyle too," she added, for some reason hesitating on Tess' name, but Max didn't pay any attention to it, already sending out a pulse to Isabel with as much power that he could spare.

A half an hour later, found Max sitting next to a sleepy eyed Maria, who kept thanking him in low tones for saving her, while cursing him for letting Liz wake her up so soon at the same time. Alex was sitting next to her, eying his orange juice with reverence as he listened attentively to something Isabel was whispering in his ear. Michael was staring longingly at Maria, who paused long enough to smile shyly at him from time to time and Tess was sitting next to him, seemingly pretending not to notice Kyle at all, who was sitting straight next to her and focusing on his waffles with an intensity that most people used to solve complicated equations. Liz was sitting on an extra chair on the edge of the table, so the crammed booth didn't wind up suffocating them, and was silently enjoying her meal, glancing at them all with a pleased look in her eyes.

Max shared her pleasure, happy to unwind for the first time in a long time. Also, he thought glancing around at the packed table; it's the first time we've all been together since I can remember. It's almost peaceful… I just hope it last this time but if it doesn't, I'm gonna be ready.

Clenching his fist around his fork, Max silently swore yet again to keep his family safe and looked over at a still silent Liz once again before digging into his own breakfast.

Extra Kathleen's POV

Her alarm clock went off, waking her with a jolt and feeling tired but somehow still extremely energized, Kathleen all but jumped out of her bed to get ready for her day.

As she sat down to eat her morning meal, a little time later, Kathleen pondered over her current life. She'd been sent to Roswell to spy on some kids, but had resigned from that assignment only a week into things; her conscious not ready to go after harmless kids.

Fortunately, her supervisor had allowed her to quit without any hassle, which she vaguely remembered being something that he rarely did, and Kathleen had kept her job as the school's guidance counselor with the irregular case of substituting various classes as well.

She'd been ill and depressed for a few months, she knew, but know things were okay again and the young woman was ready to face her job with all the energy that had been missing for a while. An hour later, Kathleen was entering the school with high spirits and went about her day as she usually did, with joy.

Sometime during the day, there was a knock on the door and it opened to reveal one of her favorite students, Max Evans. He was smiling kindly down at her as she gestured for him to take a seat.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay, Miss Topolsky," he said softly, denying her invitation by remaining upright. "I want my preferred substitute teacher okay now that I've heard Mr. Morrison cough a lot today – just in case."

"You just like me 'cause I don't assign homework," Kathleen smiled widely and Max nodded in reply.

"Of course."

"Well, Mr. Evans; I guess I can soothe your oh-so-worried mind by revealing that yes, I'll be taking over Mr. Morrison's classes tomorrow. He's already asked me earlier."

"Great." Kathleen enjoyed the rare smile that lit up his usually so emotionless face; a face that more often than not, caused her fellow teachers to think of him as trouble. It was something that the former agent really hated, because on some deep level, she just knew that Max Evans was a good kid.

She eyed him closer and narrowed her eyes when she spotted an almost healed cut on his upper lip and fully took in the dark shadows under his eyes. "Is everything okay with you, Max?"

The teen took a deep breath and stared just as intensely into her eyes as she did his before he replied softly, "Yeah, Miss Topolsky. Things are beginning to look up now. Don't worry about it."

"You can always come to me, I hope you know that, right?" her tone was exceedingly gentle, as if she was talking to a wild animal, which on some level she thought she was considering the poor kid's background.

"I know." Max paused and then the atmosphere lightened as he smiled again and added before leaving just as suddenly as he came, "I'm glad you're okay now Miss Topolsky."

As he quietly closed the door behind him, Kathleen had the strangest feeling that he wasn't talking about her depression that had almost cost her not only her F.B.I job, but her current job as well. Then, deciding not to worry about it and just enjoy her life as she felt almost obligated to for some reason, Kathleen shook her thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on reading Mr. Morrison's notes for her class the next day.

TBC…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N I put in Kathleen's POV at the end because I think she deserved it and I couldn't fit it in; I've had it lying around for a long time but finally decided to just add it as a little extra bit. And I'm aware that Max healing her scars could end up giving her powers, but I'm twisting canon a bit and saying that since the healing stones were involved that just doesn't happen…because…uhm…it doesn't:D


	26. Kyle, Michael, Isabel and Liz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last Time On TATT: Maria worries about Liz's mental state after her torture. Alex, Maria and Liz have some human time to cope with everything at Liz's place. Tess is comforted by Kyle after she struggles to get past killing Pierce; they wind up bonding, which freaks the youngest Valenti out. Max gathers all the hybrids to help mindwarp Kathleen out of her misery. Later he tries getting Liz to open up. She deflects and organizes the first ever group dinner since the Antarians came back in time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and sorry for the sporadic updating. If you can't wait, I have the finished story up on ff.net. Go there if you're impatient hehe.   
> If not, please consider letting me know what you like/dislike of the story. I love to read my readers thoughts and theories ;)   
> Thanks for reading!

CHAPTER TWENTYSIX  
  
Kyle's POV  
  
It was eerily silent around him; the only sound was the sound of his panting breaths and his body's movements in the night. His sneaker clad feet slammed against the pavement with ferocious strength, heightening his speed more and more until he started trembling uncomfortably.  
  
Kyle didn't care; he wanted to run away from everything. Away from the fact that his dad wasn't the hero he'd been in the other life, that none of his fellow humans saw him as anything other than the slightly mean jock he'd been once upon a time, that he'd come back powerless, but more than anything, Kyle was running to escape that thread inside of him that connected him to the person he'd once considered a sister.  
  
Tess. The very thought of her, sent a shiver of something he couldn't quite decipher down his sweaty spine, and with one last burst of effort, Kyle stormed down the empty sidewalk at three in the morning.  
  
Finally, his body gave up on him, and Kyle was forced to stop. He bent forward, leaning his arms on his knees and gasping violently for air, and tried to push back the queasiness that tried worming its way through him.  
  
It took a little while, but eventually, Kyle felt strong enough to straighten back up, wiping his sweaty hair out of his eyes. He shivered, and glanced down at the soaked through wife-beater, knowing he'd have to go back to Michael's place and shower soon so he didn't wind up with pneumonia of all things.  
  
As if thinking about the former temperamental hybrid had summoned him, Kyle spotted him standing completely still, out of the corner of his eye when he turned to head back to Michael's apartment.  
  
"What the…" Kyle whispered, narrowing his eyes to look closer, just in case his eyes were playing tricks on him.  
  
Upon further inspection, Kyle realized that it was indeed his friend standing in front of someone's house in the middle of the night. Huh, he wondered, letting his eyes take in the small home, what's so special about this place?  
  
In the next moment, the question was answered when a lone passing car drove by and shone its light upon the front of the house in a split second. It was Maria's house.  
  
Oh, right, Kyle sighed. I shouldn't really be surprised to find him here. He almost lost her again, so naturally he's in his overprotective mode.  
  
A distant memory of a scowling Maria calling said mode 'pain in the Czechoslovakian wife's ass-mode' entered Kyle's mind, and he had to swallow back a nostalgic grin. He really missed his friendship with the blonde human; after he'd somehow returned to the past, Maria had been more jealous of his closeness with the hybrids to even think about trying to cultivate a friendship with the guy she'd known practically her whole life.  
  
I guess she never really got an opportunity to see past how I treated her in elementary school, Kyle thought sadly, even as he began walking slowly towards the immobile figure standing in front of what Kyle suspected was Maria's bedroom window.  
  
He was walking as slowly as he could, while at the same time making as much noise as possible with his movements. Kyle had at three individual times accidentally snuck up on all of the Antarians, and he wasn't about to do it again. His eyebrows, which had somehow been singed all three times, ached in phantom pain at the memory of those incidents.  
  
"Hey Guerin," Kyle greeted amiably, when he had stood next to the other man for a long moment without being acknowledged in the slightest. Maybe he just didn't realize I was here.  
  
"Hey Kyle." Was all Michael replied, he didn't even look away from the dark window in front of him, and Kyle mentally rolled his eyes. Right, of course the General knew I was here; he probably knew where I was before I even spotted him my damn self.  
  
The silence grew again, and Kyle mostly wanted to just turn around to go get that shower his nose was telling him that he sorely needed at this point, but the look in his friend's eyes stopped him. And the small, selfish part of him was actually pleased to be doing something else but think about the whole mess he'd gotten caught up in with Tess.  
  
"Wanna talk about it?" he tentatively asked, when his conscience won over his vanity. Michael glanced at him without answering before turning his attention back on the unmoving form in a bed that Kyle could just barely make out in the darkness.  
  
"Yeah, didn't think so really," Kyle continued after a few minutes of yet another edgy silence. "I guess I don't blame you for being here right now. I mean, if I'd been through what you have, I'd probably be setting up camp out here too."  
  
Michael didn't move, and Kyle shrugged as if he didn't really care. On the inside though, he was growing a little bit more concerned than previously. Michael had rarely looked so despondent, so drained. Not even during the toughest part of the war…well, before Kyle's knowledge of it ceased due to his untimely death and all. Michael had always been the one that tried cheering people up. It was something he'd taken over from Maria, when her deadening powers had slowly gotten the worst of her.  
  
"Anyway Man, I'm here if you wanna talk…" Kyle finished with a sigh. There was no response, but he hadn't really expected one. I guess, I'll have to open the floor so to speak, Kyle realized with an internal grimace of pain.  
  
'Cause personally, I could use some listening ears for a second."  
  
Michael twitched, almost as if Kyle's request had finally gotten through to him, but then he stilled and didn't react further.  
  
"Aw screw it," Kyle cursed, and before he knew it, it burst out of him. "I kissed Tess, and I think that we're somehow bonded now, and it's freaking me out, and I can't stop getting this Tess and our Tess confused, and I don't wanna end up blowing everything by letting something slip through the connection. So, really, my life sucks just like yours do."  
  
There was no movement for a long second, but then Michael twitched again…and again, and with a start, the confused Kyle understood that Michael was trying to hold in his laughter.  
  
"Shut up Asshole, it's not funny." Kyle hissed, looking around to check for witnesses to Michael's apparent meltdown.  
  
Michael was finally looking at him, even wiping his eyes while a small smile still lay on his lips. "Oh Dude, it really kinda is."  
  
It was only the fact that Kyle honestly couldn't remember when he'd last seen the other guy smile that stopped him from punching him out. Instead, he just shrugged in an attempt to make it seem like he didn't care about any of Michael's amusement.  
  
Judging from the smile that was still on Michael's face, he wasn't succeeding.  
  
"Look, if you just wanna laugh, that's fine, but I was being serious here." Kyle said, trying to get things back on track. He regretted it almost instantly, because the smile quickly disappeared from Michael's face, leaving it slightly gaunt and exhausted looking instead.  
  
"Nah Man," Michael shrugged, "I get the complicated part. So, what are you gonna do now? I could try to teach you some techniques in guarding your inner thoughts, but to be fair, it's mostly something I did on instinct back when I first started going out with Maria – I've never taught it to anyone."  
  
The idea had some merit, Kyle realized, but in the end he decided not to try another mental alien thing as the first option, which he told Michael straight out.  
  
Michael nodded, "I get that. But you know where to find me if you change your mind."  
  
Seeing a way back in to the real problem at hand, Kyle smirked, and nodded with his chin towards the window in front of them. "Yeah, right here, would be my guess. Care to tell me why you're taking the stalker tendencies so far this time?"  
  
Kyle waited, half-way expecting to be ignored like he'd been before he'd spilled his guts, but to his surprise, Michael looked over at him, seemingly with every intention of talking.  
  
The moment their eyes met, Kyle had to repress a shiver; the other male was clearly in agony. Probably beating himself up, and blaming everything that almost happened on himself, Kyle decided without saying anything out loud.  
  
"I need to stay here, in case bad stuff happens." Michael's voice was like nothing Kyle could ever remember hearing before; incredibly soft, almost timid with a healthy dose of bitterness thrown into it.  
  
"She's home safe, sleeping soundly," Kyle felt the need to point out, glancing in at the still form on the bed through the window.  
  
"I know that." Michael all but hissed, his cheeks tinged a little with embarrassment. "Don't you think I know that, Kyle?"  
  
"So what's the problem?"  
  
"The problem is," Michael spat out through gritted teeth, "that nothing is as it's supposed to be! Maria likes me, I know that; I can feel that, but she doesn't trust me, and because of me not gaining her trust, she almost died…again. If it hadn't been for Max, I would've…" He trailed off, the look in his eyes lost, and tormented at the mere possibility of losing the woman he loved.  
  
Kyle did the only thing he could do, reached out and punched Michael in the chest. Hard.  
  
"Aw, what the hell, Man?" Michael rubbed his pain away, glaring daggers at Kyle all the while.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Kyle merely took a precautious step backwards before speaking his mind. "This is what's wrong with you guys. You take everything on your shoulders, thinking that because your DNA is different than ours; all our problems are your fault. It's just not true, Michael. I know Maria, and I know that she chose to participate in Liz and Max's rescue; that she somehow ended up shot, because of a lack of foresight that she used to have. I get that you don't trust her, or the other two. I know that compared to us, they're just kids, but still – you beating yourself up because you're holding Maria up to the Maria from the other timeline is not only wrong, it's disgraceful."  
  
Michael frowned ominously, the air taking on that special oppressing feeling it did whenever he was beginning to get really mad, and Kyle quickly wrapped up his last points.  
  
"Maria doesn't deserve to be treated like a child, being guarded for her own safety. Neither does she deserve to be held up to the pedestal you've got your original Maria on; she won't ever reach that, no matter what you do."  
  
"So what do you suggest I do then, Mr. Wise Guy?" To call Michael's tone of voice acidic would be an understatement at this point, so Kyle took a deep breath before replying.  
  
"You let her come to you – Knowing her as I do, it's bound to happen once she steps out of her 'Best Friend'-mode. You just have to come to terms with her, and the others, not being who we lost, but people with their own thoughts and ideas. It sucks, but I'll give you a piece of advice. I look at it, as if they've all gotten amnesia, and I have to reenter their lives smoothly, so they don't call the cops on me…or something."  
  
Michael stood without moving a muscle for a long while, and Kyle didn't really think he'd succeeded in explaining his views to the other male, but slowly, the oppressing air seeped away, and Michael slumped a bit with relaxation.  
  
"I guess you're right…" He murmured, running a hand through his hair with a small groan. "I'm just tired, I really wanted to come back to happy times, you know. Peaceful and all that Gandhi crap."  
  
Kyle grinned, slapping Michael on the shoulder briefly. "Well, just to be fair, we never did have any kind of peaceful times the first time around either, not even when we were this young." He gestured down his sweat covered front.  
  
"Huh," Michael snorted, and spared Kyle a quick glance. "Ain't that the truth?" He paused, and then asked without looking away from the window this time. "So what do we do now?"  
  
"We go home, and you cook me something to eat, 'cause I'm starving, while I take a much needed shower." Kyle said, turning to leave Maria's lawn.  
  
A few steps later, he realized that Michael wasn't with him. "Are you coming?"  
  
Michael hadn't moved, but Kyle caught the slight reflection of a grimace on his face in the window, before he spoke. "Not to sound like a wimp or anything, Valenti, but you've gotta shove me a little or else I don't think I can."  
  
Nodding mutely, knowing how serious his friend was, Kyle stepped up next to Michael. He placed his hand on his shoulder, and started walking back once more. There was only a little bit of reluctance, before Michael sighed heavily and followed him.  
  
They walked in amiable silence for a while, until Michael looked at Kyle with a raised brow. "So…Tell me more about this Tess thing."  
  
Groaning, Kyle cursed himself for having revealed anything in the first place, but for some reason, he couldn't not talk about Tess and ended up doing just that the whole way back to Michael's apartment.  
  
Michael's POV  
  
After Kyle had managed to cut a little through the piercing fear of his heart, the night before, Michael was a bit saner about everything, but it didn't mean he was completely over everything just yet. He was just a little less obvious about it. The whole thing about Tess and the unexpected bond, was hidden away to ponder over when he was no longer so worried about his girlfriend.  
  
She's here, she's still breathing, Michael thought, downright staring at the woman he loved above all else in the middle of second period geometry class.  
  
Maria didn't seem to notice his attention upon her, too caught up in eying Liz, who was sitting quietly next to her, diligently taking notes with her uninjured hand.  
  
"Hey Michael," Isabel's greeting from the chair beside him jolted the hybrid out of his thoughts and he reluctantly turned to meet her gaze. The concern in them was obvious, but her expression was kept neutral so as not to attract any unwanted attention. "You'll burn a hole in the back of her head if you keep watching her like that."  
  
"I'm not staring." Was Michael's brilliant reply to that and Isabel rewarded him with a teasing eye roll and he chuckled at the clear lie that had just left his lips. "Yeah, well; she doesn't notice anyway. She's too busy making sure Liz is all right after…after everything."  
  
The teasing glint in Isabel's eyes dimmed a fraction and she sighed. "You know," she said quietly, gazing at the two human girls, "I thought coming back would make their lives better, but I don't think it's working quite right."  
  
Michael shivered as the old memory of a dead Maria entered his mind and he said through gritted teeth, "It's still better than being dead, Iz."  
  
"Yeah, I guess," Isabel muttered and then added when Michael shot her a scowling look, "I mean, sure it is, but you've got to admit that we haven't exactly made things a lot better for them despite our best efforts."  
  
"Well, I'm gonna fix things so nothing bad happens again." Michael vowed and explained further when Isabel leaned forward slightly with a questioning air about her. "There's still the Skins and crap like that to get to and I'm gonna handle it before it turns into the same massive pile of," he broke off at Isabel's raised eyebrow and reproving look and censored himself with a small smile, "stuff ."  
  
Isabel glanced away from him and looked up at Kathleen, who was cheerfully, although obviously without any real grasp on the matter, going through the geometry notes that their normal teacher had left behind before his vacation. Then she looked at the still Liz, who was now gazing mindlessly out the window, ignoring the concerned whispers of a tired looking Maria.  
  
"I think that's a good idea. I'm in if you need any help."  
  
"I know," Michael nodded gratefully and resumed his staring at Maria, who finally noticed him and sent him a small smile and an eye roll when Kathleen finally noticed the lack of attention her teaching had, and playfully threatened with detention if people didn't follow the lesson.  
  
0o0o0  
  
He didn't care that his teachers were looking at him oddly, Michael decided. It's worth the risk of regaining my stigma as weirdo kid again anyhow.   
  
His fellow students were busy chatting good-naturedly, only absentmindedly punching at the keys on the keyboard while their just as bored teacher was staring at the only active participant in class. Namely him.  
  
I wish I'd remembered to get a computer of my own, Michael thought, shielding his busy typing and deflecting the teacher's attention with a jaw breaking yawn and a glare that still worked wonders considering he hadn't actually used his brooding face since he was an actual teenager.  
  
Mission accomplished by the teacher's eye roll and loss of scrutiny, Michael dove right back into what he'd been doing; hacking several systems with an expertise that would make even Serena look bad.  
  
Michael's subtle search finally hit gold and he stopped, staring intensely at a security image of Courtney, who was standing next to someone clouded in shadows. Michael swallowed a growl; he didn't need a lot of brain cells to recognize the tiny form as belonging to Nicolas.  
  
"Got you," he whispered with an unattractive smirk of triumph that unknowingly made the student next to him gulp and switch her seat to the next one over.  
  
Michael quickly printed out the pages he'd discovered and got up without caring about the raised eyebrows his movement caused. A moment later, found the large hybrid almost jogging down the hallways with several crinkled pages of paper in his hands and he didn't stop until he reached the class where he knew Max was in.  
  
Knocking on the door and adopting the serious expression of a kid that had every right to be where he was, Michael entered and looked searchingly out into the room until his eyes connected with Max.  
  
"Yes, may I help you?" Michael glanced at the teacher, who was looking at him with a frown and barely repressed a smirk. I guess I can't escape my bad reputation no matter how much better I am at actually showing up in class this time around, he thought and cleared his throat to speak.  
  
"I've been sent for Max Evans. He's needed in the administration's building."  
  
The teacher's frown didn't lessen, but apparently she didn't really care to go the distance in terms of actually finding out the truth because she simply nodded and looked at Max, who'd already taken his bag and stood up to leave.  
  
"Find out the homework assignment from one of your classmates, Mr. Evans so you don't fall behind."  
  
Max nodded in agreement and without a sound followed Michael out the door.  
  
Once they were standing out in the empty hallway, Michael spoke before max could follow up his curious expression with a question.  
  
"I've got a sure read on Courtney; I can get her and if we go together we'll be able to get Nicolas before the Summit crap and all of that."  
  
Max's dark eyes lit up with a light from within that Michael recognized to be pure hope of an end to all of the madness they'd gone through back in their original timeline with the drama and fear of those days, but then he blinked and it was gone.  
  
Michael frowned, waiting for his best friend's no doubt enigmatic response. He didn't disappoint.  
  
"We need to talk with Liz and Maria and Alex."  
  
"Uhm, okay, I'll bite. Why?"  
  
Max blinked and looked away before setting his gaze on Michael, and in that moment, the larger time traveler could see the burning emotional despair that was eating the former king up from the inside, and he automatically took a step closer to lend some kind of support to his best friend's suffering. Before he got a chance to speak though, Max just sighed and answered his question.  
  
"We're losing them all over again. They may be alive and well this time around, Michael; but as sure as I'm standing here, we're losing them. I can't handle another life without Liz ever again, Michael."  
  
Michael stood immobile for a long second, trying to figure out to lend some strength to Max, who seemed a lot older than both his psychical and his mental age combined.  
  
"I understand that, really I do, but come on, Man," he finally settled on saying, "we can't just blurt everything out like that. They'll never believe us for one thing."  
  
"We'll show them," Max countered, his fervent look of hope reminded Michael of the time so very long ago they'd both denied Isabel the chance to tell Mrs. Evans about their origins.  
  
"Buddy," Michael sighed, running a hand through the hair he'd slowly begun growing out again, "we'll scar them for life if we give them images to go with our stories. Unlike us, they're still pretty much just kids."  
  
"I agree," Max murmured hesitantly, but then he straightened up and in that moment, Michael realized that nothing he'd ever say could convince the brown-haired hybrid otherwise.  
  
"But what, Maxwell?" Michael prepared another, no doubt futile, argument as to why they should protect their loved ones. A moment later, all arguments fled his mind as he tried to process what Max had just said.  
  
"Last time we trusted them, Michael. We trusted them with our lives and they're the same age now as they were then. In fact, at this point in time in our earlier lives, they'd all pretty much risked their lives for us and expected nothing but truth and trust in return. Why is it that we can't give them that now? Even though we know without a shadow of a doubt that if we trusted them, they'd never let us down? Tell me that."  
  
"Well," Michael countered, frowning at the things he'd just been told as things began unfolding in his mind in ways he hadn't anticipated. "We swore to protect their innocence this time around, didn't we? So they didn't die again."  
  
Max's lips turned up in a bitter smile that frankly, didn't suit him at all. "It's already too late for that to be an issue, Michael. Too many things have already happened to make our vows any good. Add in the fact that they're all connected to us through the bond and we've got a recipe for possible disaster. Michael, I won't lose Liz again; it's been killing me to keep all these secrets from her."  
  
"You think you're the only one?" For the first time, Michael's temper seemed to rise to the surface and he was mad enough not to care. "I just don't want to lose them over this. What do you think is gonna happen, when we sit them down and tell them about the time travel and the end of the world so to speak? It's gonna freak them out, and they might end up avoiding us!"  
  
"That's already happening for me with Liz!" Max roared, and Michael found himself automatically tensing, halfway into his preferred battle stance in case his leader was going to lash out with violence.  
  
"Last time we didn't have the bonds either, which makes everything so much more screwed up and-".  
  
"Hey guys!"  
  
Kyle's voice interrupted whatever Michael would've said back, and he relaxed from his earlier stance, only just realizing he'd been in it in the first place.  
  
"Hey Kyle," Michael greeted, slowly turning to look at their human friend, a bit more certain now that Max wasn't about to blow them all up into smithereens, but all that worry came back and intensified with tens of thousands when he noticed that Kyle wasn't alone.  
  
Immediately, his eyes darted over to Max, who was just standing immobile and meeting the shocked, and much freaked out look that one Alex Whitman was sending his way.  
  
For the first time since Maria had been shot, and nearly died, Michael didn't even think about her. No, all that went through the large hybrid's suddenly empty mind was, "oh shit."  
  
Isabel's POV  
  
Isabel was actually feeling, if not content, then acceptably calm for the moment. The thought of Pierce being gone for good, and them having eliminated any evidence that could lead future F.B.I. Units to their tail, was simply too good to not feel satisfied about.  
  
And now it seems we're on route to fixing the whole Skin mess too, Isabel thought, sitting quite comfortably at her seat next to her former friend and/or minion, Michelle. The other girl kept shooting frightened glances her way, but Isabel ignored it with an ease that was born out of a lot of experience.  
  
Currently, she was expertly filing her nails, half-way listening to the teacher babble on about the War of Independence, while silently bemoaning the fact that she couldn't just fix her cubicles with a little help from her powers due to possible witnesses.  
  
Oh well, she thought, shrugging mentally, I can just perfect it when I get home later.  
  
Bored now that she couldn't do more to her nails, Isabel looked around the classroom, and stopped when her eyes reached Liz and Maria. The two were sitting in the front, no doubt due to Liz's need to be able to hear everything her teachers told her. But the longer Isabel looked, the more it became clear to her that Liz was nowhere near listening.  
  
Neither is Maria judging from the looks she keeps giving Liz, Isabel decided.  
  
Then again, Isabel thought on, with a small headshake, it's not surprising she's hanging on to Liz so much after what they've been through lately. Liz hasn't been the same since we got her out of the base and Maria nearly got killed too. She's probably never seen her best friend so despondent before.   
  
A memory of one of the times Isabel had seen a miserable Liz flickered through her mind, but she shook it off without paying much attention to it, too caught up in her sudden worry for the two young women.  
  
Then, a second later, she froze. Something was bursting through the bond with an unmatched speed, and it was such a jumbled mess that it took the former princess a few moments to decipher it properly.  
  
Disbelief, confusion, anger, hurt, but above it all; panic.  
  
Isabel was half-way to the door, when her teacher icily brought her a little back down to earth. "Miss Evans; do you have something to share?"  
  
"I…I…" Isabel, at this point, could barely form sentences, too deeply entwined with the emotions that Alex was pouring through to her  
  
"Aw, aw, aw, my arm; oh it hurts!"  
  
Liz pained filled shout, drew the teacher's attention away from Isabel, and she found herself staring equally as entranced as the rest of the people present.  
  
The brunette was holding her injured arm, her eyes filled with tears, and she was all but whimping. It seemed like her arm was cramping, that something was most definitely wrong, and Isabel had the conflicted emotion of horror rushing through her. If Liz was indeed in danger of some sort, she had to help, hoping against hope that Alex could hold on.  
  
It was in that moment, that Liz looked up into Isabel's eyes, and in that brief look, Isabel just knew the other girl was acting; that she'd somehow interpreted Isabel's panic and decided to help her out. It seemed as if Maria had caught on as well, because she was acting like the frantic best friend that was sure that Liz was about to die right this very minute, and doing her utmost to be in the way for the teacher to do much of anything.  
  
Thank you, Isabel sent out a silent thought of thanks, and slipped unnoticed from the classroom.  
  
She barely managed to get down one hallway, before she was run over by the very person she was desperately seeking.  
  
"Alex!"  
  
The teenager froze from his position on the floor, where he'd landed, and Isabel reached out to him, but before she got a chance to do much of anything, Max, Kyle and Michael rounded the corner of the hallway and interrupted.  
  
"He knows! He overheard us!" They looked anxious, and panicked, even the usually so stoic looking Max, but even so, they only looked half as scared as Alex.  
  
The words pierced Isabel's heart, and in one terrifying moment, she felt as if she was two people. One being so overwhelmingly happy that her love finally knew everything, while the other was completely freaked out because her love knew everything!  
  
"Alex, please calm down." Isabel softly begged, her whole being locked onto Alex. "I'll explain everything, just please don't run away from me."  
  
Isabel was fully prepared to witness an epic meltdown, to see the clumsiest human in their circle blubber incoherently before running off at high speed. What she hadn't expected, was Alex slowly sitting up against the nearest wall, rubbing his neck tiredly.  
  
"Fine. But I think I've got the gist of it already."  
  
Isabel raised a brow, and looked over her shoulder up at her brother, who looked more sheepish than she'd ever seen him before.  
  
"What do you know?" she asked in a whisper, looking around cautiously. She wasn't about to risk more people finding out, no matter how much her heart was beating with fear and adrenaline.  
  
"Well," Alex didn't look at any of them, staring straight ahead and speaking in a chilling monotone that didn't suit him. "You're from the future, we were all dead, and now that you're back, you want to prevent us from everything, and it's slowly tearing everything apart. How am I doing?"  
  
"Jeez Max, how much did you blabber on about this in public?" Isabel hissed, before trying to calm herself down. Her connection with Alex was going haywire and making her feel uncomfortable.  
  
He may look calm and collected, Isabel realized, fighting back a rising sense of nausea with difficulty, but from all of the things that I'm feeling through our connection, Alex is freaking out big time. It's almost like his emotions are hurting me psychically.   
  
Just as she thought that, something seemed to stab her insides, and she bent forward with a pained moan. The painful sensations kept spiking at irregular intervals, and Isabel soon realized that she was being hurt from the inside; somehow Alex was hurting her without even touching her.  
  
"…more to the story, and we need to sit down and talk more fully about everything," Isabel vaguely heard Kyle saying in the distance; his voice was somehow distorted, and she was too distracted by her hurting to attempt to listen in on the conversation going on around her after that.  
  
She blinked furiously to get the small dark dots out of her sight, recognizing them as a sign of upcoming unconsciousness. The coppery taste in her mouth, took Isabel by surprise. She moved her tongue, and learned, with almost nonchalant carelessness, that she'd bitten through her tongue. She was still bent over in a position, which she knew looked like she was pleading silently for Alex's forgiveness, or willingness to stay, so Isabel wasn't surprised no one around her knew what was going on.  
  
She felt warm drops trail down her cheeks, and out from her nose. Isabel wasn't naïve enough to think it was tears or even snot; the red color in her vision told her that it was all blood. She would've known even without her vision; she'd experienced something similar before.  
  
Finally, Isabel managed to work through the ever growing pain to open her mouth, and gurgle out her brother's name.  
  
Next thing she knew, Isabel was being rushed into a small room that she distantly remembered as the Eraser Room of all places. She heard Max order Michael to make the blood in the hallway disappear, before his eyes locked with hers and he began healing her.  
  
It's no use, Isabel wanted to say, it's Alex who's doing it, he just doesn't know it yet. Only Alex can make the pain go away.  
  
How she knew this, Isabel had no idea.  
  
"…keeps saying your name…" Max's voice reached her as if far away, but Isabel couldn't muster up any more attention. Everything she had was devoted to battling out the still oncoming waves of stabbing pain.  
  
"…look at me Izzie!" I thought I was doing that, Isabel thought out to her brother, but then she discovered that she'd closed her eyes, when two strong fingers forced her eyelids apart, and she met Max's concerned gaze once again.  
  
He's punishing me, and he doesn't even know it. The thought kept running through Isabel's mind on repeat, and she'd almost given up hope of the pain ever stopping, when suddenly, she felt a familiar set of hands gently cupping her face.  
  
"What am I doing, Isabel? Tell me! I'm not punishing you!" Alex's voice seemed like it was reaching into her, and pulling the last bit of sanity with him to the surface.  
  
Because it was Alex asking, pleading frantically, Isabel somehow managed to tell him mentally what was happening to her, and coaching him back to inwardly calmness.  
  
A few minutes later, or it could have been hours, Isabel didn't really know, the pain was suddenly cut off, and pure blissful numbness set in. After that, Max once again opened her eyes, and a moment later, she was fully healed albeit a little sore.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Michael's voice was the first to pierce the tense silence, but Isabel couldn't give him an answer.  
  
It turned out to be Kyle, who came up with the answer. His tone was eerily calm, not even the slightest bit of emotion in it when he spoke.  
  
"I guess Alex's powers decided to show up and make themselves known…"  
  
None of the time travelers moved a muscle at the preposterous idea of Alex, who'd only recently been healed by Max, having powers already. It shouldn't be possible.  
  
The only one, who did move in the tiny room, was Alex himself. He was crouched next to Isabel, running his thumbs up and down her cheeks. His touch was smearing the drying blood all over her face, but he didn't seem to notice. He was just repeating the same thing over and over again, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."  
  
Isabel finally came out of her shock, and just wrapped her arms around his lanky frame. "It's okay," she whispered to his plea, "everything's going to be just fine. I promise."  
  
The other guys straightened up, clearly going to leave the two of them alone to talk in private. The last thing Isabel heard, before Max quietly closed the door behind them, was Kyle's faked cheery voice stating that they should look on the bright side now; only one human knew the truth out of three, so things could've been a lot worse…  
  
Liz's POV  
  
September twentythird. Journal entry one. I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. After that, things got really weird…  
  
The pale form on the bed frowned and twitched even as new images flashed through her mind in one gigantic swirl.  
  
"Liz, if you do this; you're dead." The voice of the girl that Liz practically considered her baby sister rang loudly in the tense silence and she blinked the burning in her eyes away.  
  
"I know, Serena." She forced her exhausted muscles to cooperate as she continued, "But you also know that if you try to stop me, I'm not going to be the only one."   
  
The still form of Liz parker flinched, looking as though she was having a seizure, her body tensing up and making the veins in her neck pop out.  
  
"Miss Parker," Agent Pierce's cool, yet hate filled eyes rammed into her, "don't take this little meeting the wrong way; you're simply a bargaining chip to use against the abomination you call Max Evans. But," Pierce's lips turned into a sadistic smile, "that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun while we wait, now can it?"  
  
He bent forward and placed some sort of helmet device on her face once more and images, upon images flashed through the young girl's mind and she knew she was screaming horribly at the fear and pain they induced, but she couldn't for the life of her stop herself from doing it.   
  
"LIZ!"  
  
Liz's eyes snapped open and she was staring straight into her mother's frantic face. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute, and for some reason her breaths just didn't seem to want to slow down. Also, it was like her hands had crackled with electricity for a split-second too, but that was just too weird.  
  
"Mom!" Liz gasped, instinctively flinging her arms around the older woman, clinging to her for dear life. She felt weird, as if her mom wasn't supposed to be alive, and the peculiar feeling scared her even more.  
  
"Shh, Sweetie. It's okay, I'm here," her mom soothed into her ear, rocking them both softly from side to side in an even motion. "Everything is just fine, Honey"  
  
How long Liz sat in her mother's warm embrace, drawing comfort like a sponge, she didn't know nor particularly cared to either. She just enjoyed the sensations, even as her mind tried to categorize everything.  
  
"Do you want a glass of warm milk?" Her mother's voice drew Liz back into the real world, and she blinked with amused confusion.  
  
"Mom," she said, reluctantly pulling away from the embrace, "I'm not five years old, you know."  
  
"I know," Nancy smiled as she gently ran her fingers through Liz's soft hair, "but I've got news for you, Sweetheart. To me, you'll always be five years old. You'll understand when you've got a kid of your own some day."  
  
Liz smiled, and thanked her mom for the comfort, before pretending to lie back down on the bed to try and sleep some more. Nancy got up with a small smile, and left, leaving, to Liz's amused bemusement, the door opened just enough for the dim lights of the hallway to be seen.  
  
She did try to go back to sleep at first, but her mind kept going back and forth between her nightmarish dreams and the chaotic feelings she'd gotten from Max that day in school.  
  
It must have had something to do with Isabel; Liz rationalized, biting her lip wearily. When she stormed out of the classroom today, she looked so scared that I couldn't stop myself from helping her escape Mr. Tanner's wrath. Thank God, Maria knows me so well, or it would probably not have worked as well as it did.   
  
The memory of Maria's overacted drama, which kept everyone from knowing Isabel had left, put a small smile on Liz's face. Of course, they'd both been sent to the school nurse to be checked out soon after, and both of them had spent the rest of the day there until their parents picked them up with concerned looks on their faces.  
  
Thankfully Mom and Dad bought my excuse of studying too hard, Liz's smile dimmed as the now familiar guilt overcame her. She really hated lying to her parents.  
  
But it's necessary, she decided, her thoughts returning to the tumbled mess of dreams she'd just escaped from. They'd never believe any of this even if I did tell them.   
  
It had been silent from her parents' bedroom for half an hour, before Liz moved again. She stealthily got out of her bed, put on her robe and went out to the place where she hid her journal.  
  
An hour later, Liz finished documenting all of the fragmented dreams she'd been having ever since Pierce had put that damnable helmet on her head. As she'd been writing, her mind travelled to Max and the weird emotions he'd been giving off ever since…well, since she'd first become aware of their connection to be honest.  
  
For some reason, Liz no longer felt bothered in the slightest about the bond between Max and her. The only peculiar thing about it all was the increasing knowledge from deep within her which told her that it shouldn't be so dark and tainted. Their connection was always supposed to give off comfort, hope, purity and above all love.  
  
It's like it's supposed to be 3D, Liz wrote at the bottom of the page, in a rushed scrawl that looked nothing like the orderly way she usually documented her thoughts, but right now, it's only 2D if even that. I somehow just know that Max is the one I'm meant to be with; that we're willing to sacrifice everything for one another, but I can't make the jump from that knowledge to reality. I'm scared…It's like I'm two people right now. It's like there's another Liz Parker just waiting in the wings to come out and overtake me. I don't know what to do…  
  
TBC…  
\-----------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So any idea of what kind of power, Alex's gotten? I've hinted at it in earlier chapters and can reveal that I got the idea from the show during Alex's counseling session with Topolsky. :D


	27. Max, Isabel, Michael and Kyle

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN  
  
Max's POV  
  
"So you're sure that this won't end up biting us in the ass?"  
  
Michael's tone was softer and more hesitant than the words suggested, and Max chanced a glance in his best friend's direction before he looked back out at the road. "It's the best option. This way we're giving Alex the time he needs to get things straight in his head and get over the guilt of accidentally hurting Iz."  
  
Max heard his sister's deep sigh from the backseat at the mention of what Alex had done to her without realizing it, but she didn't comment, allowing him to continue quietly, "We need to tie up the rest of our loose ends before things go off course any more than they already have."  
  
"I, for one, am glad to be getting out of Roswell for the time being," Kyle said, his voice full of fake cheer that was obvious to all present in the Jeep. "Hanging out, road tripping and not being followed by a deathly alien army is kinda fun."  
  
Michael turned to look at him, and Max had to fight off the smile that threatened to develop on his face when he spoke, "and your eagerness has nothing to do with a certain formerly murderous blonde?"  
  
"Who, Maria?" Kyle quipped, and Max grinned briefly when Michael simply gave the human the finger and turned back around in his seat.  
  
At least we're doing something proactive for once; Max thought to himself, passing the sign that welcomed people to Roswell with a small, nostalgic sigh.We've got a plan and when it's been executed things will have to slow down enough for everyone to feel at ease again…and I'll sit Liz down and tell her everything before our relationship is completely ruined.  
  
"So," Isabel cut through the rare moment of amusement, her face clearly showing her determination to get things over and done with as soon as possible. "Let's go over the plans to make sure we're not forgetting something."  
  
Michael shrugged, "Fine. Kyle and I go to Copper Summit to ruin those damn husks in the dead of night, and if Courtney is there, we'll take her with us."  
  
Max took over speaking with a deep sigh, "While that's happening, Iz and I are going to go to Serena's house to heal her before she ends up in the hospital in Phoenix. She'll dreamwalk Serena's parents to make sure they don't suspect a thing. Then we'll go to Eric's house and do the same. Sydney and the rest aren't sick as of this moment in time, so we can't heal them yet." Michael shook his head with an air of frustration about him; he still didn't agree that healing the kids was the best thing for their future. Max ignored it with practiced ease and continued, "After that we'll meet up and go back home where we'll figure out if we should get into the whole business with Laurie and her family or leave it well enough alone."  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Max saw Michael nod, this time in full agreement and knew without looking that Kyle and Isabel was doing the same.  
  
"All right then," Kyle broke the silence after a few minutes of quiet thinking, "before we get too giddy from being on the road again, I demand we stop at the first service station, 'cause I need me some snacks for the trip."  
  
Max and the others chuckled; none of them had forgotten the many times Kyle's stomach had dictated their route in their earlier lives. "Sure, sure," Max muttered and pressed the gas pedal with a small sigh, oddly happy to be on the road again.  
  
0o0o0  
  
Several hours later, Max turned onto the street where he knew Serena's childhood home was. Isabel was sitting next to him, her eyes darting quickly around to make sure they weren't noticed. Michael and Kyle had split from them earlier, slunk away in the darkening night to steal the first available car to take them the rest of the way to Copper Summit.  
  
For once we're not using Maria's Jetta, Max realized with a bittersweet smile, it feels almost sacrilegious considering how much that car helped us out in the past. Liz and the others always helped us too…  
  
Max shook his head, forcing the thoughts of his human friends and loved ones out of his head. I need to be focused on what's about to happen, I can't be distracted right now.  
  
With a massive effort, Max let his other, less human side take over and all his concentration was on the job he was about to do. The proof of his success was the tiny flinch that Isabel couldn't help but give when she met his eyes a moment after they'd both soundlessly exited the jeep.  
  
Halfway down the street, Max stopped in front of a small, two-story building with a rusty swing set on the front lawn. Max easily recognized the house from all of the times that Serena had told him and the others stories about her life before the healing.  
  
'It's just like she described it,' Isabel's cool touch on his arm almost burned Max as her voice simultaneously sounded in his head. 'She really was a normal little girl once.' The tone in his mind was slightly disbelieving and Max wasn't surprised. He too had always had trouble picturing the serious little all-knowing little girl as a normal kid that liked to play.  
  
The memories of what her life had ended up like threatened to overwhelm Max, so he quickly shook off his sister's touch and used their old hand signals to convey that he was going inside the house. Isabel nodded seriously and they crept inside under cover of darkness. Max used his powers to disable the alarms, and the family's two cats were quickly and quietly encased in one of his soundproof shields to keep them from waking up the house's residents.  
  
Three minutes later, after opening several doors and finding both of Serena's parents sleeping soundly, Max finally found Serena's room. She was sleeping just as deeply as her mom and dad, her skin pale and gaunt looking and her hair a lot thinner than he remembered. That makes sense, Max thought, all but gliding up to her bed and kneeling beside her. She wasn't sick when I really got to know her. I only ever saw her ill that one night in Phoenix.  
  
The sight of the little dark-haired girl sleeping caused a crack to appear in Max's self-appointed armor and he had to swallow a lump of grief for the memory of the young girl that had meant so much to all of them.  
  
"She looks so young," the whispered words left his lips before Max realized he was speaking. Isabel nodded to his right and after a quick glance at her; Max saw that she too was staring down at the little girl with sadness and awe very visible in his eyes.  
  
"We're doing a good thing, right?" Isabel asked; her voice tight with suppressed emotions. Max couldn't speak so he just nodded and gestured for his sister to keep watch while he prepared himself for the healing.  
  
Closing his eyes, Max took a deep fortifying breath in preparation for what he was about to do. Instead of waking the little girl, and thus alerting her to his and Isabel's presence, Max would attempt to connect mentally with her throughout the healing process.  
  
It was something he'd barely begun experimenting on in his earlier life; the need for vengeance and killing far outweighed his natural instinct to heal. Besides, Max thought bitterly, at that point in time there weren't that many people left to heal so it didn't quite have the same appeal any more.  
  
Don't think about that now, Max scolded himself and cracked his knuckles before gently placing his long fingers on Serena's forehead, I have to focus on what I'm about to do; I can think about the past later…  
  
It all happened so fast that when Max thought about it later, he still had no idea what really happened the moment he carefully maneuvered his way into the sick little girl's mind. All of the sudden, instead of being in control, Max was gently led towards a bright spot in the distance. Instinctively, the time traveler struggled as fiercely as he knew how, but it was all in vain. The gentle hold on him didn't waver at all and with each breath, he was being slowly, but surely, dragged towards the foreign light.  
  
'Don't be scared, Max.' The voice was familiar, but at the same time it was completely unknown.  
  
What's going on here? The thoughts were swirling in Max's mind, and he hated not being in control; the last time it had happened, Tess' healing after Nasedo's attack had almost fallen to pieces.  
  
'Just be patient,' the voice responded, as if his thoughts were no longer his own, and Max automatically prepared for battle. There was the sound of a small, tinkling laugh that was almost eerie in its familiarity, but Max refused to acknowledge it, because if his growing suspicions were correct then everything he knew would be off kilter.  
  
'You always were the stubborn one,' the voice stated, full of gentle amusement and a love so ferocious that it almost crumbled Max's emotional shield, making it entirely too difficult to focus on and maintain his defenses.  
  
Finally, it seemed like his unwilling journey was about to come to an end; the light all but exploded around him, and when Max could finally see again, his vision was still filled with little black dots. It took a while but eventually his sight cleared and he was able to see if his suspicions were correct.  
  
The person in front of him wasn't a little cancer-filled girl; no, it was a beautiful young woman, whose health and power flowed out around her.  
  
It was the Serena he'd lost in the other timeline. No, that's not right either, Max's inner voice corrected, Serena looks like she should've looked like if she hadn't been involved with aliens, war and death. Just like a normal young woman embarking on life…  
  
"Hey, Max," Serena's voice, now easily recognizable for some reason, resonated within him. In that moment, Max longed for nothing but to run over and wrap the still tiny female in his arms and hug her tight. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed her in his life.  
  
"S-Serena…" It was a struggle to say her name, Max wanted to say so much more, but his throat had clamped up and his heart was beating a mile a minute. He didn't want to think about Isabel's reaction if she looked over at his physical body in the real world, he must have looked like he was having a heart attack.  
  
Finally, after having swallowed past the lump in his throat a few times, Max managed to ask his most pertinent question, "How is this happening?"  
  
Serena smiled; it was the same unbearably innocent smile she'd always bestowed upon him, and once more, Max had to reinforce his shields so he didn't fall to the ground weeping.  
  
"Call it yet another unexpected manifestation of my powers. I guess I was more powerful than we all thought back then… but," she continued, her tinkling voice taking on a more serious edge, "but I'm glad that I got this chance, because I need you to do something really important for me."  
  
"What?" Max asked; his entire being virtually ached to help her. In a way, he'd come to realize that he'd always seen Serena as the daughter he and Liz didn't get to have, and he loved her unconditionally. "Anything."  
  
Serena smiled and came closer until she could touch him. She reached out and planted her small, surprisingly warm hands on his cheeks before she spoke again. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Max, because I really need you to do this for me." She took a deep breath before finishing her plea in a quiet, intense tone of voice, "Get out of my mind, leave with Isabel right now and go help Michael because he'll need it and forget you ever knew me or any of the other Unit kids."  
  
"W-what are you saying?" Max already knew what she was saying, but he needed clarification just in case he was getting the information wrong. Oh, how he hoped that he was wrong.  
  
"Max," Serena pressed their foreheads together, and her voice seemed to echo all around him as she quietly continued, "I don't want you to heal me."  
  
Isabel's POV  
  
Isabel's entire body was tense and ready for action. She'd already located a picture of Serena's parents for her upcoming dreamwalk, so other than keeping a lookout she had nothing more to do but make sure her brother wasn't using too much power.  
  
Soon after he'd closed his eyes, Isabel realized that something was wrong. Normally when he'd tried to heal with this technique in their original time, he'd seemed blank and more like a human statue. But mere moments after connecting with Serena's still form, Max's skin broke out into a sweat and his eyebrows furrowed as though he was in the middle of hard, strenuous work. The small gasps he let out from time to time didn't exactly soothe the concerned sister any either.  
  
Isabel was tempted to go over and lay her hand on Max's neck to connect with him, but she knew from previous experiences that it rarely ended well if she interfered, so she restrained herself with great effort. Besides, she told herself pragmatically, if I'm in there with them, I'm going to be a bad lookout in case something happens out here.  
  
Isabel's resolve started to waver as the seconds ticked by and nothing seemed to happen, apart from the vague shine of Max's customary green shield that slowly began to form around him as the time passed. For the first time, she regretted that she'd insisted on splitting up the group. Michael would probably know what to do and if not, Kyle's unrelenting calm in crisis situations would most assuredly help her more than anything. Even if things were still a tad awkward between them, but Isabel forced herself not to think about that for the time being.  
  
A few minutes later, all Isabel's thoughts fled her mind as Max began to moan as if in complete and utter agony. Then, with a rough gasp, Max was suddenly back in his own body, still kneeling in front of Serena's deceptively fragile frame.  
  
"Max, are you okay?" Isabel whispered, her hands already steadying him as he stumbled ungracefully to his feet. Her worry skyrocketed when she felt him tremble furiously under her touch. "Max?"  
  
"We have to go." He murmured with a slightly dead tone in his voice that Isabel had never wanted to hear again.  
  
"What's wrong? What happened?" Isabel looked over at Serena, who looked just like she had when they'd first arrived. "She hasn't been healed, we can't leave yet."  
  
Max glanced down at the little girl with an indescribable expression on his face, before looking up at his sister. "We have to go," he repeated carefully.  
  
"But—"  
  
"Isabel, let's go now." The steel in Max's voice didn't convince Isabel as much as the truly heartbroken look in his dark eyes. He looked like he'd been in the White Room all over again.  
  
"Okay," she agreed reluctantly and walked closely behind Max as he made his way out of the room. In the doorway he stopped and looked back down at the sleeping child.  
  
"Goodbye Serena," he whispered and before Isabel could do or say anything, she heard him leave the house.  
  
"What did you do this time?" she muttered to Serena, who merely rolled over on her other side with a small adorable snort.  
  
'Take care of each other,' Serena's voice suddenly sounded in Isabel's head as though she was standing right next to her, 'this is the only way, Isabel. Don't forget that I love you all so much.' It was as though Serena's lips touched her cheek just before an almost inaudible murmur of 'goodbye, Isabel' reached her before everything turned silent again.  
  
When Isabel exited the house and covertly made her way back to the Jeep, she was glad that Max didn't question her about the tears running down her face.  
  
"Let's go to Eric's house then," she said instead, transforming a CD into a tissue to wipe her face.  
  
"We're going to Copper Summit," said Max when he started the engine. He still hadn't regained any emotion in his voice, and that, above all else stopped Isabel from demanding any immediate explanations. Somehow she already had a pretty decent idea of what had happened. Serena always was the most pigheaded of us when she saw a path in front of her…  
  
"Okay…but you're so gonna tell me everything after this is over and we're back home." Isabel demanded instead, not breathing until Max sighed and nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yeah…When we get back, I'll tell you everything."  
  
0o0o0  
  
"I-I'm so so so sorry, Isabel," Alex's voice was hoarse and he still had trouble looking into her eyes after whatever it was that he'd done. "I'll never forgive myself—"  
  
"Alex," Isabel interrupted, moving closer to him as careful as she could without spooking him back into the nearest corner. "I know it wasn't on purpose. I know that now. I'm the one who should apologize for what I thought and how I've lied to you for so long, but…I really didn't want you to know any of this."  
  
For the first time, Alex's eyes lost a bit of the self-loathing and he glanced into hers quickly as if surprised. "Why not just tell us everything from the start? Apparently, we knew the truth before and handled it okay enough. Whatever happened to make you and the guys think we didn't deserve to know the truth?"  
  
"Please don't ask me that." Isabel bit her lip, now being the one to avoid eye contact. "You all just deserved to live normal lives."  
  
Alex's lips twitched and he explained when Isabel's eyebrow raised in a silent question. "No offence, Isabel, but ever since you started taking an interest in us our so-called normal lives went right out the window."  
  
"Also," the gangly teen added, once more looking away from Isabel, "I can't help but question the whole for-your-own-good-spiel. Nothing good has come from all of those secrets. Besides, I know that something happened in your other life that concerns me because let me tell you, every time I ask about it, your anxiety levels spike so high that I feel like I'm about to puke."  
  
"I thought I'd dimmed the bond a little," Isabel murmured. Alex shrugged and pointed at his head.  
  
"I'm not using the bond right now. I think your brother's healing kinda made me into some sort of Empath…or something, I don't know. I just know that I feel what everyone around me is feeling and I have to constantly calm myself so I don't accidentally kill someone like I almost did with you."  
  
Isabel looked around the packed diner, where she'd cornered Alex on her break and frowned. "I'm sor—"  
  
"I know," Alex cut in, with a shadow of his usually vibrant smile on his face, "I can feel it."  
  
The two of them sat in uncomfortable silence for a while, and Isabel watched quietly as Alex's own emotions played on his face. Sometimes he flinched when an intense emotion hit him, and she was tempted to completely re-open their connection and take on some of his unwanted burden.  
  
She never got the chance because, naturally, Alex intercepted her intention and held up a hand. "I don't think you can handle this, Isabel," he whispered, looking her in the eye, at last, for longer than the split second that was the norm of this conversation. "I know you mean well and I'm glad you're not even the slightest bit angry with me right now…but," he ran a hand through his hair with an air of frustration about him, "I think we need time apart right now."  
  
"You don't want to be with me anymore?"  
  
"Isabel, the only thing I've ever wanted since I found out that girls didn't have cooties was to be with you, but as I am right now, I need to be able to control myself first. I don't wanna wake up one day after a nightmare to find that I've hurt you. I don't wanna hurt anyone."  
  
Faced with the naked fear that Alex couldn't quite keep out from their muted bond and the slightly crazed look in his widened eyes, Isabel did the only thing she could.  
  
"I'll be waiting. It doesn't matter how long it takes, Alex Whitman. I love you."  
  
A few seconds after the words left Isabel's mouth, she noticed that most of the other people in the Crashdown were laughing uproariously and looked like they were suddenly having the time of their lives. Judging from the look of pure ecstasy on Alex's face, she knew why. For the first time, Isabel realized that Alex's powers weren't all bad.  
  
She smiled softly at him, now I just need to convince him of that when he's ready.  
  
"Iz!" The call of her name, and a gentle shake from a hand on her shoulder brought Isabel back from her sleep. She blinked and straightened up, filing the dream and memory away for later perusal so she could focus one hundred percent on what was about to happen.  
  
"We're here," Max announced unnecessarily, and they both looked out at the sign that welcomed them to a city that neither of them had ever wanted to see again.  
  
"Well, let's hope this time it turns out better than the last time," Isabel said as she soundlessly exited the jeep and helped Max turn it invisible to hide it from any wandering Skins. Please, she continued silently, let it turn out better this time…  
  
Michael's POV  
  
It was dawn by the time that Michael drove past the sign that welcomed them to the oh-so-friendly town of Copper Summit. Being back in the same space where he'd suffered one of his first personal losses, gave Michael the chills.  
  
If it wasn't because we really need to eliminate all loose ends, he thought with a barely noticeable shiver down his back, I wouldn't have come within a mile of this place.  
  
After they passed the sign, Kyle too, seemed to grow a lot more uncomfortable. "This sucks," he murmured after a little while, "I feel helpless going into this, you know. You don't know," he added with an eye-roll at Michael's look of bemusement, "'cause you're the one that's got powers and can pulverize anyone that even looks at you funny. Me on the other hand, am in the whole 'duck and cover' stage due to my human…err…human-ness."  
  
"Look," Michael ran a hand through his hair, "I get it, but I know you're capable of kicking ass even without your powers. I was there when you trained remember?"  
  
Kyle shrugged, but he did look a bit more appeased, so Michael continued, "Anyway, we need to go over the plan one more time. I have this feeling things are not going to be as easy as we think."  
  
"Fine. Well, let me kick things off then; we're gonna go in to the nearest café or diner or whatever, act like two normal high school kids on a road trip and case the place out for any out of world activities. Then, at nightfall we're gonna go to that place where you know they're keeping their husks and one-two-three we torch the place and hightail it outta here. Easy peasy."  
  
Michael chuckled, "right, 'cause things always go exactly as we plan, right?"  
  
"Shut up, Dude," Kyle punched him in the arm, "I'm trying to reconnect with my Buddhism here, calmness and serenity and crap like that, okay."  
  
"Right."  
  
Michael smiled and turned down the main street to locate a place for their plan to begin. There was a small and old looking building that seemed like a great place to start. As he parked the car, Michael noticed the curious looks from the few people up at that early hour.  
  
Why they even bother to act like this place is a normal town, I'll never understand, Michael repressed his natural instincts to just start blasting people apart and forced a carefree look on his face as he followed Kyle out the door.  
  
There was a flare of worry from Maria's side of the bond, and Michael quickly squashed his side to prevent her from picking up any more from him. She doesn't need more on her plate right now. Michael sighed, his longing to be near his soulmate nearly stopping him in his tracks. He still hadn't completely overcome his need to be near her all the time after her near death experience, but she'd barely paid any attention to him after that first morning at Tess' house. She's still focused on helping Liz through her ordeal; I hope she's not going to need me until I'm back in Roswell…Of course the friendship between Liz and Maria has always been solid, so I shouldn't worry…I really shouldn't.  
  
"Dude," Kyle's hiss in his ear brought the pondering General back to his senses, and he blinked out of his thoughts. "Try to bring your A-game, okay? Defenseless human is your only back up, remember?"  
  
"Right," Michael nodded and took a deep, soothing breath before reaching out and pushing open the door to the diner. "Let's get this over with before I go completely crazy."  
  
The inside of the diner seemed perfectly legitimate with the smell of grease and coffee in the air, but something just didn't feel right. It's like a perfect picture of an American diner, Michael decided as he followed an incessantly chatting Kyle over to one of the booths. It's just like it's supposed to be, but still, something isn't quite there…like a picture of a diner, but not the real thing.  
  
Michael nodded approvingly to the Kyle when he made sure that they were now sitting in a place that oversaw the entire room, right into the kitchen and all the exits. Say what you will, Kyle, Michael thought out to his friend, powers or not, your training is just as etched into you as mine is.  
  
"Mornin' boys," a chipper voice greeted them, and Michael plastered his fakest smile on his face, clenching his hands under the table to keep from attacking out of instinct. The voice belonged to a seemingly middle-aged looking woman with graying temples and big blue eyes that should've shone with warmth, but was just shy of genuinely creepy. Michael chanced a look at Kyle and realized that he too had recognized the woman as a danger. "What are you having? We've only just opened thirty minutes ago, so the grill ain't at its best right now, but I'm sure we'll work something out, right?"  
  
"Sure, absolutely," Kyle beamed, picking up a laminated menu that seemed to have never been used before. Another clear sign to that Michael knew that the ever observant human had spotted too. "What about some coffee and pancakes? What do you say, Adam?"  
  
Michael swallowed a smirk at the fake name; it was one they'd used in their earlier lives to prevent people from finding them, so he had no trouble switching into the persona he'd created along with the name. "Absolutely, Kenneth; I'm just famished. Although," Michael smiled politely at the Skin waitress, "I must say that this American cuisine still has not quite convinced me of your nation's superiority."  
  
Kyle grinned, he hadn't lived long enough the first time around to see Michael perfect his English accent, so he enjoyed himself even in the midst of all the danger. "Well, Adam, that's 'cause your country's got a queen that thinks haggis is the best dish ever. It's gross is what it is."  
  
"Haggis is from Scotland, Wanker." Michael pointed out with the air of an offended Englishman, who wouldn't take any slights about his queen.  
  
"Anyway, Boys," the waitress cut in, her tone a lot less chipper all of the sudden – apparently bickering teenage boys wasn't something the Skins had much experience or patience with. "I'm gonna go get ya'lls breakfast 'fore the mornin' rush comes stumbling in."  
  
They watched her move away as stealthily as they could while still keeping up the charade of being normal kids on a road trip. Michael reached for the napkin holder and grabbed a couple of napkins. Kyle immediately handed him a pen from one of his shirt's pockets and watched while babbling nonsense about their non-existent trip as Michael doodled on the paper.  
  
Michael smirked inwardly as he kept on glancing around with wide eyes and a silly smile on his lips and continued to draw. It was a code that only Michael and the rest of the time travelers knew, he was planning and taking notes of all the people that couldn't quite act as well as they could.  
  
Finally, after their breakfast had been devoured, after a quick poison scan from Michael, they stood up and Michael stuffed the napkin in his jeans pocket and went to pay.  
  
At the register, Kyle vocally decided that he definitely needed to see more of the town and that led the waitress to loosen her lips and explain the way to the nearest motel.  
  
Twenty minutes later, they'd paid up front in cash and checked into a room with two beds that was too pristine to ever have been used before. Another sign if there ever was one, Michael decided and then he threw himself on the nearest bed with a loud groan of frustration.  
  
Kyle raised a brow at him and pointed at the room at large, mouthing something about listening devices and Michael cursed himself for being so stupid and irresponsible. A second later, he sent out an electromagnetic pulse that should fry any and all electric devices. Another quick flash of blue and the room was encased in a more fragile version of Max's shield to keep unwanted visitors out as well.  
  
"Now we can talk freely," Michael murmured and he burrowed down on the bed again.  
  
Kyle shrugged and sat down on his own bed with a sigh. "Why so glum, Chum?"  
  
"Really?" Michael sat back up again, leaning against the headboard. "You can't tell me you don't know."  
  
"I don't know," Kyle's smile was a tad obnoxious and Michael had to remind himself that he really wasn't a 17 year old to keep from launching one of his pillows straight into the other guy's face.  
  
"Fine, let me just paint you a picture here, okay." Michael growled, pulling out the rumpled up napkin as he spoke. "In that diner of theirs, there were eleven so called customers, two waitresses and a cook. As we sat there for fifty-eight minutes, thirty-three people walked by the diner; some of them more than once. They were keeping an eye on us, which means they're suspicious. And powers or not, we can't take even half of them on alone. Also," Michael added with a sigh, "that's only the Skins we've seen so far. Who knows how many are in this town right now! I mean, that congresswoman that Liz worked for is only just rising up and making waves. We don't know how many Skins there are, where Courtney is or just what their psychotic leader Nicholas is up to. We don't know and it freaks me out."  
  
Kyle sat in silence for a long while, absorbing everything Michael had just spilled. Eventually, he too leaned back on the bed's headboard with a heavy sigh. "This is gonna suck, isn't it?"  
  
"It's kinda a given at this point in time, yeah."  
  
Another short beat of silence occurred, before Kyle just shrugged. "Well, let's make the most of this little break then, because we can't do anything until nightfall anyway. You wanna take first watch or should I?"  
  
In that moment, Michael felt a rush of gratitude to his old friend. True, Kyle may be a liability when it came to powers, but aside from Max there wasn't any other guy he'd rather have by his side because powers or not, Kyle Valenti had proven himself time and time again to be absolutely ferocious when it came to fighting their enemies.  
  
"I'll take the first watch," Michael offered when Kyle started to look annoyed over the delayed reply. "I'll wake you in five hours."  
  
"Cool," Kyle nodded and unceremoniously kicked off his shoes and wrapped the blanket around him. Five minutes later, he was dead asleep and Michael kept a vigilant watch just like he'd promised.  
  
0o0o0  
  
"Tell me something," Kyle's whispered voice reached Michael just as he managed to open the door to the room he remembered being the one where all the husks had been. "Doesn't this seem way too easy for you? I mean, we're never this lucky."  
  
Michael repressed an urge to smack his friend in the back of the head, "Dude," he exclaimed instead, "one doesn't go around saying that. It'll jinx us, you idiot."  
  
"Sorry…" came the petulant response and the not at all contrite look followed soon after. "But come on, Man; it's been totally easy. We weren't accosted once since leaving the motel and now we find an unprotected lair. It doesn't fit with what you've told me of this place."  
  
"Look, it's probably just because they don't expect us to do this. We're gonna finish the plan and then leave before anything happens. Chill for a second, and let's just…" Michael's voice trailed off as his throat clammed up with adrenaline as his eyes took in the room he'd been in once before in another life.  
  
It did look the same, the glass tubes with the Skins' new husks were just as he remembered it, and the humming sound from the motors keeping the water the right temperature was familiar as well. What weren't so recognizable were the two Skins standing right in the middle of the room with glowering yet smug expressions on their faces.  
  
"Hello," the female that had been their waitress earlier that day greeted coldly. Her eyes were now filled with that hate she hadn't quite been able to repress in the diner, "we've been expecting you."  
  
"Oh crap me and my jinxing." Michael heard Kyle's muttered curse and couldn't help but silently agree.  
  
We have to get out of this, Michael thought. What am I gonna do? I can't just start killing them; we don't know how many are up there waiting for us or if they know something that we have to know to live safely. I can't put Maria and the others at risk again…I won't!  
  
"Hi there," Michael greeted with a small mocking wave because in danger or not, he would never let them see his growing anxiety. "To what do we owe this lovely welcoming committee?"  
  
"Yeah," Kyle took over, having fought long enough with Michael to know his way of doing things, "we're really not that special. You're welcome to just leave and we'll say to whoever asks that you did a great job, right?" He looked up at Michael, who nodded.  
  
"Definitely."  
  
"Cut the bullshit, you two," the other, unfamiliar, Skin ordered.  
  
"That's pretty harsh," Kyle pointed out and the female Skin bowed mockingly, her words freezing Michael and Kyle with surprise.  
  
"I do apologize, Your Majesty; after living on this cesspool of a planet for so long, one's manners tend to take a backseat. I hope you and the General don't mind us." Then she cackled madly and abruptly raised her arms in a crazed movement like that of a prayer. "But then again, it's fun and I don't really care one bit what you think."  
  
"You think I'm the—" Kyle began, only to have Michael's elbow bump into his arm.  
  
"Don't bother denying it, Your Majesty," Michael said, casting a warning glare at his friend, "they're obviously on to us."  
  
"Damn right we are," the woman hissed, "I can't believe our luck. We've just found out a few months ago where the Antarian Royal family sent you to and that you actually survived the incubation period, and here we are. Nicholas will be pleased when he returns, as will Khivar! I can finally stop degrading myself by portraying one of those moronic human slaves that this planet calls waitresses."  
  
"Hey!" Michael said through gritted teeth, "don't knock on the waitresses, they're a hell of a lot more tough than your sorry, collapsing skin ass."  
  
The male Skin bared his teeth at the insult and unexpectedly sent a pulse of raw energy towards Michael in response, and Michael only had his quick reflexes to thank for narrowly dodging the deathly blast. The female shrieked angrily and swiped her hand across the male's face, and his face's membrane immediately began to crumble away as if her nails had poisoned him.  
  
"We need them alive, you fool! If they're dead, they're no good to us!"  
  
The male didn't reply, he was too busy screaming out his hurt and trying to force his torn and rotting flesh back to some semblance of normal. Even Michael, who'd seen a lot in his day, had to fight off a burst of nausea at the disgusting sight.  
  
In the next minute, Michael wanted to shoot himself; they'd just let a perfectly good escape opportunity slip right through their fingers. Judging from the sudden look of annoyed comprehension on Kyle's face as he looked at him, Michael wasn't the only one feeling stupid right then.  
  
Fuck, what do we do now? Michael bit the inside of his cheek, for the first time just as concerned as Kyle about the human not having gotten his powers transferred with him from the great beyond or wherever it was he'd come from. If I attack, they are definitely gonna realize pretty soon that Kyle's not Max and that'll only lead them to the real king…  
  
Michael's mind felt ready to explode as he was frantically searching through options, but he lost all train of thought a moment later, when the door opened up behind him and a voice he'd never heard sound so detached before spoke, "I've informed Nicholas of our triumphant catch of the year, Vara. What do you need me to do next?"  
  
Slowly, inch by inch, Michael found himself turn and look at the speaker and found himself face to face with Courtney.  
  
She looked exactly like he remembered her from their brief acquaintance in his past life; an obvious alpha female with a will strong enough to crush bricks, but for the first time, Michael saw her as what she really was; a hostile enemy out for blood. Her eyes lacked all of the admiration and awe they'd always possessed whenever looking at him. They were completely devoid of any human emotion whatsoever.  
  
The female Skin, whose name was apparently Vara, straightened up with a smirk plastered on her face. Once again, she was the picture of smugness and Michael had to fight off a sudden urge to break her neck.  
  
"Thanks for your assistance, I'll be sure to mention your continued cooperation to Nicholas. I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear of your progress, my dear."  
  
Courtney nodded mutely, and glanced over at Kyle and then at Michael. It was during that split second look that Michael caught it; he wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been so trained in body language as he was, but there was no doubt that the quick flash of shame and vivid hatred had been something he'd imagined. Not even his imagination was that good.  
  
Maybe she's not a hostile at all, Michael reasoned internally as he looked away to keep anyone from detecting his observation. It could be that she's spying on her own kind so she has as much as possible to offer me when she eventually decides to come find me. Was that what she did last the time?  
  
Since Michael's life had been nothing but war for so long, it was a little hazy looking back at the memories from the short period of time that Courtney had been in his life. It meant that Michael couldn't remember exactly what had taken place down to the smallest detail, but after a moment of deliberation, he decided that it didn't matter. If Courtney's really on my side, I have to save her this time. I can't let her die for me again.  
  
Vara brought him back to the very dangerous present, and Michael calmly did as demanded when she ordered him and Kyle to turn around. Soon after that he felt her cold, clammy hands on his wrists where she bound him in chains. Kyle's grunt of pain told Michael that the still groaning male Skin had bound his wrists a little too tightly for his liking, but there was nothing to do about it.  
  
"Don't worry about that little pinch of pain," Vara soothed with a condescending smile, she even patted Kyle's hair mockingly. "It's merely the beginning of the kind of pain you are about to experience, Your Majesty. Despite his other faults Sirl is very good at inflicting pain."  
  
The stiffening of Courtney beside him was the only warning that Michael got. One breath later, Kyle broke out into screams of pure agony, his voice cracking halfway as he toppled over backwards to the floor, convulsing violently with Sirl calmly following with his right hand placed on Kyle's chest.  
  
"A pity," Vara's tone was beyond haughty as she slowly sidled up to Michael's side, "I honestly didn't think that the human DNA would turn such an otherwise strong race so utterly pathetic."  
  
The sight of Kyle trembling and crying out in crippling pain was one of the hardest things Michael had ever seen. He'd rarely felt as helpless as he did in that moment and he couldn't stop thinking about Tess' reaction to what Kyle was going through. At least Maria is somewhat used to it, but Tess is flying completely blank…I don't think Nasedo taught her all that much about bonds of love…  
  
Finally, when bloody foam started running down Kyle's chin, Michael couldn't stand it anymore. "Stop it! He'll die! You fucking cowards!"  
  
Vara ran her fingers through Michael's hair, and he cringed at the unwelcome touch. "The General is speaking the truth, Sirl. We must make sure they both survive or else we'll never achieve the Granolith's location."  
  
Sirl stepped back, removing his hand from the spot on Kyle's torso where it had been planted since the torture began. Vara looked between him and Michael, "but of course, we can spend a little time seeing if the pathetic human race's influence has ruined the formerly so admirable General; don't you agree, Sirl?"  
  
The answering half smile that the male Skin sent Vara was disgusting, flakes of melting skin falling off his face at the movement. Vara merely returned the smile and gestured from Sirl to Michael.  
  
He only had a few seconds to close off the connection between Maria and him as much as possible before Sirl's long-fingered hand found his chest and instantly pain practically exploded behind his eyelids. Michael lost all reason and didn't even feel himself falling to the floor in much the same manner that Kyle had just done.  
  
Kyle's POV  
  
It took him a while before he regained the ability to think let alone function. As he blinked into the real world again, Kyle vaguely noticed that someone else was screaming hoarsely now, and that he should probably try and help that person out, but it was as if his body was someone else's; it tingled, burned and trembled incessantly and he felt as weak as a newborn kitten. He could feel that there were tears in his eyes and his nose was runny so Kyle absentmindedly wiped it with the back of his shaking, still bound together, hands only to discover that the fluid on his face was all blood.  
  
What the hell happened? He wondered, inching himself back on his feet carefully. Something was churning in his gut, and after a moment of weary thought, Kyle recognized it as a flare from the newly formed connection he shared with Tess. God, I hope she didn't feel all of that. I may not love her as Michael loves Maria, but I sure as hell wouldn't want her to suffer through that…  
  
He'd never felt worse pain in his life, past and present combined and for one brief second, it shamed him to realize that he was hesitant to jump back into the line of fire to protect his friend. Fortunately, it didn't last long and Kyle made a move to jump Sirl, who looked way too content considering half his face was rotting away.  
  
Just as he'd taken a few steps, something stopped him. A grip on his arm that made him moan with pain, evidently his abused nervous system couldn't yet bare to be touched. An unfamiliar voice distracted him from the soreness, and Kyle turned his head a fraction to look at the other female Skin.  
  
She looked distraught, her eyes never leaving the convulsing Michael on the ground. "Don't get yourself killed, I can't protect you if you get subjected to that again in such a short time," she murmured, barely audible with the screams from Michael taking up most of the sound. "Your death will cause more pain to the General than I can allow…"  
  
Kyle wanted to rage, ask the strange woman what the hell she was talking about, but he found it impossible to tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him. Michael's suffering because of me, he thought guiltily, vaguely recalling Michael ordering them to stop hurting him. I have to do something…but I'm weak, I can't do anything. I'm gonna have to watch him die like they once saw me die. Fuck, I can't let that happen, those bastards!  
  
As the rage continued to build like a tidal wave inside of Kyle, he absentmindedly felt a nearly forgotten sensation grow inside of him; it was something he hadn't experienced in what felt like forever. The machines that powered the incubators all around him were beginning to call out to him, calling for his attention, begging to assist with his outpouring of justice.  
  
It's…It's my powers, Kyle realized with a start, and in that moment, he felt a small spark of gratitude to Sirl's heinous act of torture because somehow it seemed to have awakened his dormant abilities.  
  
"Hey, Freddy Krueger!" Kyle roared. It was like all his pain and fear was blown away with the knowledge of his upcoming battle. "Get your hands off of him right now!"  
  
Sirl growled at him and pointed his free arm toward Kyle with a maniacal laugh that normally would've cautioned the cop's son, but not now. Instead he merely ripped his arm out of the seemingly friendly Skin's grip and raised both his arms in the air with a cry of pure jubilation and his eyes shut firmly as he reached out to his long missed powers.  
  
The watery fluid in the incubators began to bobble ominously at the same time that the hum of electricity started to increase more and more. Kyle opened his eyes, knowing from past experience that they were now glowing pure white, and smiled toothily.  
  
"It's payback time."  
  
And then everything exploded into action…  
  
TBC…  
\---------------------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, I made Alex into a mutated Jasper from Twilight, only a lot more deadlier, talkative and a lot less bloodthirsty;) Reason for it being the counseling session that Topolsky gave him once, it listed him as being perfect as a psychologist and I guess I just took that one step further. I'm also aware that I'm taking a lot of artistic license with the fact that Max & co. can reach their destinations so fast, but let's just say it's okay and get on with it.


	28. Courtney, Maria and Alex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama, drama and yet more drama...

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT  
  
Courtney's POV  
  
Initially, Courtney had been relieved when she discovered that her esteemed General was in Copper Summit, but after one look at him, she realized that he was only a boy playing a grown man's game of chicken at the wrong time and place.  
  
That didn't diminish her original devotion to the man, but it did allow Courtney keep her cool more easily as her arrogant superiors taunted not only her, but him as well. Then the torture began. Her vigorous training kicked in and she stopped the King from saving him when he tried to intervene even though he had just survived a bout of torture himself.  
  
It was the only way, she thought at first, only to realize soon after, with a startling clarity, that she didn't really know anything at all.  
  
The tubes with the growing husks suddenly exploded and a suffocating power unlike anything she'd ever experienced seemed to envelope every molecule of the large room. The wires connecting the whole panel seemed to leap up as if alive, hugging the former Antarian king with reverence and devotion. It would've disturbed Courtney more if it hadn't just roasted two of her old enemies in a matter of minutes stopping her general's pain.  
  
Instead of freezing like a dear in the headlights, Courtney leapt to Michael's side and checked his vitals. He groaned loudly when she unceremoniously lifted his eyelids to see if there was any semblance of intelligence left fearing that Sirl torture had only left behind a mass of pain.  
  
"…Courtney…?" His name on her lips was a shock, and confusion flowed into her. How did he know of her existence? Especially with the fake name she'd barely begun using on this god forsaken planet.  
  
"Shh…General," she soothed, and helped the much larger man to his feet with a strength that her own small stature should not have been able to do, if truth be told. "I've got you now. But…" her eyes glanced at the other male warily, "you may want to calm your King, he's a little too trigger happy right now for my taste."  
  
"My king?" Michael's voice was hoarse and rusty, which wasn't a big surprise given the amount of screaming he'd done, but the confusion in it was still clear and Courtney pointed her chin in the direction of the one she was talking about.  
  
Before he could say another word, the door to the room suddenly exploded into million pieces and in stormed two people that Courtney didn't recognize at first, but then the admittedly beautiful female looked her over with a ferocious gleam in her eyes, and that look just screamed 'Vilandra'.  
  
Immediately, Courtney spun the still dazed Michael behind her and raised her hands, ready for anything. It proved to be bit of overkill, since neither of the new arrivals paid her much attention; their focus was solely on the former king and the obvious show of power he was giving.  
  
"Kyle?" The one who used to be Vilandra exclaimed, and at the sound of her voice the guy's attention seemed to fall apart and the power lines and wires suddenly dropped to the ground, lifeless once more.  
  
"Isabel…Max!"  
  
The last male, Max stood by the door and when her gaze locked with his, Courtney once more realized that she was missing something very important. There was power in those unfamiliar eyes, power and determination, and in that moment the Skin didn't doubt for a second that if she stepped one toe out of line she'd be dead before her next breath.  
  
I…I've never seen anything like this before, Courtney thought, fighting back a shudder. She was a warrior! Then, a vague memory slipped through her mind of a time when she'd done reconnaissance on Zan and the rest of the Royal Four, in an attempt to infiltrate the Antarian forces and get close to Rath.  
  
The King had stood in front of some unnamed soldier, who'd betrayed his platoon to save himself, thus leaving them to die a painful death. Even though she'd always considered Zan weak and without any abilities to speak off, compared to his General at least; the rightful King, there had been a spark of something much deeper that had shook her foundations a little. At least enough to never forget the raw power that had been glimpsed as he'd ordered and executed the kill order on the soldier before him.  
  
In the next moment, Courtney just knew who she was looking at, and her eyes quickly darted over to the strange man, who was busy being thoroughly examined by a fussing Vila…Isabel. "He's not the king," she whispered softly, absentmindedly helping Michael back on his wobbly feet.  
  
"What?" Michael was the only one to react to her words, but before Courtney could reply or even ask questions, there was a sickening sound, like something exploded in on itself and melted at the same time.  
  
Oh no, Courtney darted forward to the one, now ruined, tube where her own husk had been growing perfectly. She sank down to her feet, eying the bubbling mass that should've been her savior in only a few years. This shell will only last a few years more at most; she fought back the burning in her eyes that would've otherwise made her weep like a child. I'm going to die now; nothing left to fight for…  
  
A movement out of the corner of her eye managed to grab Courtney's attention momentarily and she looked over at Michael, who was muttering quickly to the man that was so very obviously Zan. Unless, she continued to herself and slowly got back to her feet, I do what I set out to do and fight for my general.  
  
"Stand back, Courtney," the voice of the one who used to be Zan ordered coldly, his dark eyes assessing her and apparently finding her wanting. Without knowing why exactly, Courtney froze immediately and hoped to the Gods he wouldn't kill her before she could finish her self-appointed goal.  
  
Then, like a lightning bolt, it hit her. "How do you know my name?" she asked, and the look Michael and he exchanged, along with the sudden frozen figures of Isabel and Kyle told her she'd picked up on something important.  
  
"We can't stay here for long, Max," Michael cut through the tension with a sigh, his form still trembling slightly after the abuse that Sirl had put him through. It didn't go unnoticed by the Skin that he'd completely neglected to answer her question. "There's bound to be more Skins coming the longer we stay here…and I don't know about you guys, but my tank's running on empty right now."  
  
Max nodded and Courtney frowned; it wasn't that she'd expected the famed general Rath to openly disobey or belittle his king, but she was surprised at the almost tangible feel of trust and loyalty between the two of them.  
  
Before she got a chance to think more about that unforeseen obstacle on the road to get Michael on the throne, Isabel spoke and distracted her. "We have to go home and rest, the husks are gone so the threat of the Skins is too, right? Maybe we'll –"  
  
"That's not entirely true," Courtney interjected and hurried to continue when Isabel turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. "You have gotten to most of this town's big hitters, yes, but our leader is out of town...in fact he's on his way to your town…if he's not already there."  
  
"What do you mean?" Michael asked, leaning a bit more heavily on Max's shoulders, his exhaustion becoming more apparent. "We haven't done anything to attract Nicholas' attention to us; we were supposed to be safe."  
  
"Well," Courtney bit her lip anxiously before continuing quickly, "we've been keeping track of one of the original guards sent with you and recently the other one arrived. The surveillance team on them managed to intercept a conversation where your location came up. Sorry."  
  
Courtney had heard a lot of curse words during her stay on Earth, but even she was slightly overwhelmed at the stream of expletives that erupted out of Isabel's mouth. Eventually, she regained her self-control a bit and turned away from Courtney to address her brother, "I told you Nasedo was gonna be trouble! He's betrayed us again; we have to do something about it."  
  
Feeling like she was acting more like a broken record than anything else, Courtney cautiously interrupted yet again, "that's not entirely true either, Princess."  
  
It was only the fact that she prided herself on her courage that Courtney managed to avoid flinching at the deathly glare she received for her continued interruptions. None the less, she spoke rather quickly so as not to infuriate the temperamental blonde. "The Guardian didn't betray you voluntarily. He was overheard during a shoot in L.A. Apparently; he's found work as the other Guardian, Cal Langley's, assistant or something. I guess they thought it was safe to talk in the middle of a busy movie production. He had no idea my race was even there."  
  
"What about those nasty shedding skin calling cards you people tend to leave behind?" Kyle asked, his face screwed up in distaste at the thought and Courtney, feeling a little offended on her species' behalf, sneered coldly at him.  
  
"Well, you have to get used to that, won't you, since you were the one that destroyed our solution to that pesky problem. Thanks for that by the way!"  
  
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat, Lady," Kyle growled right back, and Courtney forced herself to stay still when the wires at his feet started twitching ominously like rattlesnakes. She may be powerful, but she was by no means stupid enough to think that she could handle his peculiar ability alone.  
  
"Hey! Relax," Max cut through their argument with a wave of his hand. His dark eyes were trained on Courtney, as he spoke again. "So Nicholas knows about Roswell. Does he know about the Granolith? Won't he return if you call him and say you've captured three of the Royal Antarians?"  
  
Oh crap, Courtney damn near wilted under the penetrating gaze. For some reason, all of her earlier conviction about Zan being weak had completely left her and she had an inkling that she was going to feel something a lot worse when she told him the rest of her knowledge.  
  
"…H-He doesn't know that there's three of you here…He thinks…" Courtney found it unbelievably hard to finish her next words, but she finally managed after a deep breath of calming air. "He thinks it's the perfect opportunity to capture your weaknesses while you're distracted here."  
  
"Our weaknesses?" Michael frowned, glancing at an equally confused Isabel. Max on the other hand seemed to get what she was implying incredibly fast judging from the way he immediately tensed up.  
  
The air around his body shimmered with undeniable power, and his growing rage was clear in his voice when he finished explaining things for her. "He's going after the two people that we were married to on Antar. He's after Isabel and Tess."  
  
Isabel cursed, Michael frowned and to Courtney's surprise, Kyle rapidly paled and placed his hand on his sternum in an almost soothing manner. It didn't make what she had to do next any easier, and she stepped backwards a few steps before for the third time uttering the phrase, "That's not entirely true…"  
  
"He's aware of Isabel's existence, true…but…err…" Courtney hated the show of fear she couldn't quite repress, and straightened up with all her effort, "he didn't know about the one you call Tess. I just found out about her earlier today during my private research; he thinks that the one you call Liz is the former queen."  
  
"Liz?" The air crackled with power that made Kyle's earlier show seem like child's play, and to Courtney's private disgust and horror, she felt a piece of dried skin peel off her face and land on the ground, unable to survive any longer in the smothering atmosphere that Max put out.  
  
"Y-Yes," she wanted to finish her tale as quickly as possible, before Max's abilities ended up killing her fragile husk entirely, "he's convinced that the only reason you'd risk exposing yourself as you did by healing this Liz back in September was because she was your queen. He's gonna try and convince her, and Isabel, to join him and if he can't…he'll…" Another piece of skin began to fall, and Courtney stopped, unable to take anymore.  
  
Max completed her sentence with an eerie expression on his face, "he's going to kill them." A moment later, it was as if the power had been cut off, and Courtney found herself able to breathe evenly again but something told her that it was merely the calm before the storm, so she quickly volunteered to help when Max began to plan their escape from Copper Summit and the fastest way back to Roswell to save that fragile human, Liz, who had no idea what was coming for her.  
  
If she hadn't hated him with a passion, Courtney might have felt sorry for Nicholas, but as it was, she simply agreed to follow the Antarians and kept her mouth shut.  
  
Maria's POV  
  
Maria was tired, tired to the bone in fact. Her every move was sluggish as she took the orders of the customers she hadn't managed to scare away with her make-up free face and glares. Liz was acting the same way she always did, but then again, Maria had always envied her best friend's ability to act cheerful when on the clock.  
  
She acts like nothing's changed, Maria thought as she planted a couple of plates with burgers and fries in front of two people she vaguely recognized as seniors from her school. Glaring evilly at them when they smirked at her appearance, Maria was inwardly proud of herself when both young men instantly focused on their meal and left her alone to ponder how much her life had transformed lately.  
  
Liz has changed more than I like, always looking so pensive and worried when she thinks she's not being watched. Alex is avoiding us both and Michael and the others are definitely going through something pretty horrible considering the tense energy I keep getting from his end, Maria deduced, before glancing over at the last person that knew about the whole Czechoslovakian thing; Tess.  
  
And considering she's one of them, Maria thought as she glanced over at the exhausted form of the curly haired hybrid, who 'd been nursing her blueberry and Tabasco infused pie for over an hour now, she doesn't look like she's as included as the others are. The human blonde forced herself not to think about Kyle's presence once again, still a little miffed about the way he'd somehow wormed his way right into the middle of things.  
  
Eventually, Maria's kind disposition won over her pettiness and she walked over to the blonde, whom, if she was completely honest with herself, she kinda liked.  
  
"You know," she greeted with the first real smile of what felt like ages, "that pie ain't gonna eat itself. I know it's not the flavor that's bad, 'cause my mom made it…Although, now that I think about it, Tabasco sauce can't really taste as good as you Czech's seem to think."  
  
Tess flinched when Maria's voice seemingly woke her up from her own little world, but then she smiled as well, glancing down at the pie in question. "Don't knock it till you've tried it, that's all I'm saying."  
  
Maria shrugged, her nose scrunched up in distaste. "Oh, no, I'm perfectly fine with the whole not burning my tongue while eating sweets thing, but thanks." She paused before she decided to just go with her gut and do what she came for. "Actually, I wanted to know if you're okay? You look worried."  
  
Tess glanced around, probably making sure they weren't overheard, Maria correctly assumed, before she leaned over the counter and murmured, "I think something's not right with the others…I can feel Ky—"  
  
Maria held up a hand and leaned closer herself, "Are you telling me that Kyle Freaking Valenti's connected with you, like Michael is with me?"  
  
For one moment, Tess looked completely abashed, like she'd done something very wrong, but Maria smiled in relief and stopped the hybrid from panicking. "That's great. It explains everything!"  
  
"What?" Tess looked utterly confused so Maria hurried to continue.  
  
"That totally explains why they're letting him in so soon. I mean, I guess it's a little sexist now that I think about it, 'cause Liz and I knew about the bond thing first, but they're probably just worried that our poor little girly hearts can't take as much as a guy can so…" Maria trailed off, slowly moving away from overjoyed to offended. "That's actually really uncool, 'cause we knew first and I can guarantee that I can whoop people's asses a lot better than Valenti can."  
  
"What's my boy gone and done now?" Maria froze alongside Tess at the familiar voice of Sheriff Valenti. They both turned a fraction as the older man slid onto a stool next to Tess with a polite smile on his weathered face. If the sight of the lawman hadn't terrified Maria beyond reason, she would have noticed the almost desperate need in his eyes to know more about his estranged son, she would have taken in the dark bags under his eyes and his sad appearance indicating he was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders.  
  
But as it was, Maria didn't see any of that; instead, she put on a completely fake smile, pulling out her order pad. "Hi, Sheriff…So what can I get you today? We've got some coconut cream pies that my mom just dropped off an hour ago, if you're interested? Or are you interested in a warm meal; there's a discount on the Will Smith Special today if you order two sets of fries?"  
  
Sheriff Valenti looked bemused at the tense stance that Maria couldn't quite fight back, but he just ordered a coffee to go with a small slump of his shoulders. Obviously her lack of knowledge about his son wasn't what he'd hoped for.  
  
Maria smiled and was about to turn to get the man his coffee when suddenly, Tess grabbed at her stomach with a low moan of pain. Her face twisted in obvious agony and thinking fast, Maria signaled to Liz knowing she was the quick thinker of their group.  
  
Sheriff Valenti frowned with concern at the girl by his side and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay, Miss Harding?"  
  
"Hi Sheriff," Liz breezed over, looking completely unconcerned and once more, Maria envied her best friend that ability to act as if nothing was wrong, "Tess warned me this would happen, Sir. She's having female problems and they always affect her rather harshly. Isn't that right, Tess?"  
  
As the sheriff paled at the mention of the dreaded monthly problem, Tess nodded frantically. Maria walked around the counter, intending to help Liz get Tess into the backroom, but in that moment her insides erupted into a burning, stabbing pain that made everything else utterly inconsequential.  
  
Oh my God, she mentally screamed out her distress. It was purely by instinct that she managed to keep herself from reacting visibly, knowing that the sheriff wouldn't believe that she too suddenly developed 'female-issues'. She caught Liz's eyes, and it was a true testament to their friendship that the brunette immediately caught on to the fact that something was going on. She quickly handed the sheriff the coffee that Maria had placed on the counter with a beaming smile that barely looked fake.  
  
"Here you go, Sheriff. I'll take over from here. I'll tell Kyle you said hi, if I see him, okay?"  
  
A moment later, Liz had Tess in her arms and was leading her back to the break room with an outward calm that Maria would once again have envied if she wasn't too busy using all her power to remain expressionless from the assault she was undergoing.  
  
What's happening to you, Michael? She thought, her heart pounding with fear at the instinctive knowledge that no matter how bad it was for her, Michael was taking the brunt of it to spare her. In the next second, the pain intensified and Maria couldn't quite withhold a small whimper of pain. Fortunately for her, the sheriff was halfway out the door and next thing she knew, Liz was next to her with Alex of all people towering behind her.  
  
His long arm reached out over Liz's shoulder and grasped her hand firmly and suddenly the pain became much more bearable, allowing Maria to let out a breath of profound relief. Alex staggered for a bit and Maria looked up at him with worry, only to realize that somehow her childhood friend was absorbing the pain and her natural selfless personality quickly acted by shoving his touch off. She almost welcomed the pain as it flooded over her in an instant.  
  
"Maria!" Alex groaned, running a hand over his sweaty forehead. Clearly, the pain had surprised him. Liz looked between them with furrowed brows, seemingly not really understanding what had just happened and just dragged the two of them back to the break room for privacy.  
  
Liz's father merely waved in understanding, when Liz said it was an emergency that needed all of them. Agnes the sour waitress however scowled at having that many more sections to fill.  
  
0o0o0  
  
Ten minutes later, found the quartet sitting in Liz's bedroom with a recovering Maria and Tess. The agony they'd suffered had abruptly ended, leaving them feeling drained beyond anything either of them had ever experienced before. Although, Tess did mutter something about feeling just as tired as if she'd just undergone one of Nasedo's grueling training exercises. She'd flushed right after, still not comfortable thinking about her once upon a time guardian after his actions.  
  
Maria eyed Alex intensely while Liz was busy comforting Tess, trying to explain as much as she could about the bond that they now all had. She didn't think much about the fact that Tess' bond with Kyle was new, and thus didn't explain his long time involvement with the other Czechs. No, her focus was on her gangly friend, who didn't seem to be willing to meet her eyes for some reason.  
  
Finally, Maria's lack of patience won out and she slapped him weakly on his bicep. "Ow!" he hissed, rubbing the abused limb gingerly while Maria rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh please," she shook her head, "I barely touched you, you big baby. Now quit stalling and tell me what the hell just happened out there."  
  
At her words, Tess and Liz stopped their murmured conversation and redirected their full attention to Alex, who flinched.  
  
"Yeah," Liz spoke softly, eying the now squirming Alex closely with her intelligent brown eyes, "now that I think about it, you were the one to run into my room and get me to help Maria. I wouldn't have known something was wrong with her too if you hadn't told me. Why didn't you just buy the period excuse like Sheriff Valenti did?"  
  
"I…uh…I…" Alex hesitated, and if Maria hadn't been so drained and sore she would've smacked him for real this time. She settled for sneering coldly with a feeling of betrayal warming her insides. Surprisingly, it seemed like Alex could read her because he snapped his eyes to her and flinched ever so slightly.  
  
"Maria quit it, please. I'm not trying to hurt you here, okay!"  
  
Blinking, Maria slowly reached out to grasp Alex's shaking hand, but he pulled away before she could touch him. "Alex, I'm sorry," she said, feeling hurt despite her friend's words.  
  
Alex jumped to his feet, running a hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. "Look, if I tell you this, you have to swear not to freak out and believe me I'll know if you freak out on me." He practically glared at all three girls, and Liz, being the automatic leader in these types of situations promptly nodded.  
  
"We won't," she promised and Maria nodded despite her instinctive knowledge of herself. Her ability to remain calm was stunted in some situations, so she reached into her uniform's skirt pocket and withdrew a small vial of calming drops that she always carried on her person.  
  
"Yeah, we won't" she repeated softly after placing a few bitter drops on her tongue and shuddering in distaste. "We'll try at least."  
  
There was a brief, but heavy silence, where Maria and Tess tiredly leaned up against Liz's sides on the bed, waiting for Alex to reveal whatever he was trying to say. Finally, after a few minutes, he managed to say something that was completely unexpected.  
  
"After I nearly died…No, wait…uhm, to put it simply, I've got powers now."  
  
Maria tried, she really tried, but she just didn't quite know how to process her new knowledge and her usual M.O. took over. "What? You've got powers! You're a Czechoslovakian too, aren't you? How have you kept it secret all these—"  
  
"MARIA!" Alex bellowed and it was almost as if her mouth snapped shut on its own, the raw force in his tone sent out invisible ripples of power that made the hairs at the back of her neck stand up. Tess moaned pathetically as if she could feel it much more clearly than Liz, who merely frowned and leaned forward sharply, gaining their gangly friend's attention.  
  
"Calm down, Alex." Her voice seemed to penetrate his abrupt anger and Maria felt able to breathe again, absentmindedly rubbing the spot where she could still feel the pained exhaustion of Michael. The weakness she could feel frustrated her and worried her all at the same time. It'd only been a short while since she'd seen him and they still hadn't completely cleared the air of everything that'd happened during Liz and Max's capture, no matter how at peace she'd been that first night.  
  
I never realized how much I actually depend on his invisible strength to calm me these days, Maria thought as she sent a slightly sheepish, but apologetic smile at her friend.  
  
"Sorry, Whitman," she murmured and gently reached out to pat his arm, but to hers, and the others shock, Alex jumped backwards and tumbled to the ground in an attempt to avoid her touch. The mere thought of it, hurt Maria's feelings but she tried not to show it visibly. The quick pang in her heart didn't lessen though.  
  
Alex's head snapped up in her direction, eyes wide in nervous eagerness. "No, no, Maria, I'm sorry it's not you, I promise. It's the powers; I think Isabel called it a touch and emotional telepath or something. I can absorb people's emotions all the time, but when there's touch involved it's like it's intensified tenfold and I soak up the feeling and I'm still woozy from when I tried doing it downstairs earlier when you felt that horrible thing from Michael's end."  
  
Maria and the others listened attentively and he continued with a soft sigh as he planted himself in Liz's desk chair, "The thing is, I feel everything all the time now and I'm not really great at it yet and…" Alex suddenly looked years older and almost frightened. Maria had to repress the urge to go hug him as he added in a shameful whisper, "and to make things even better, I seem to be able to somehow project emotions to other people, making a deadly weapon out of it if I'm not careful. I almost killed Isabel…If Max hadn't been there I'd…I owe Max my life."  
  
The air thickened as if Alex was slowly sucking the oxygen out and replacing it with invisible electricity that would burn ones skin off before sucking the energy out of your body, and Maria couldn't move. Her sore body completely forgotten as the adrenaline floored her, but still, she couldn't move away from whatever it was Alex was doing. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the echoing panic in Tess and Liz's eyes.  
  
Once again, it ended up being Liz, who distracted Alex enough to realize that he was projecting something and hurting us. He groaned and banged his head down on the desk, muttering apologies repeatedly.  
  
"You're gonna figure out how to handle this, Alex. We all believe you're capable. I trust you just as much as I've always done."  
  
Maria jumped in, her friend's obvious self-loathing hitting her hard as she tried to reassure him just like Liz, "She's right, Alex. You will be a lot more badass than any of the bullies at school will ever expect now, but we still trust you without doubt."  
  
Alex straightened up when Tess added quietly that she too wasn't afraid of him and he looked gobsmacked. If she'd taken a pan to his head and smacked him hard, Maria didn't think he'd look as shocked as he did in that moment.  
  
"You really do, don't you? I feel your nervousness, but you're not afraid of me. You're worried about the guys and Isabel…Not me potentially snapping and killing you."  
  
"Oh, please," Maria would've have rolled her eyes if they weren't pounding in her skull, "I don't care how much you can make my insides curl up in fear, 'cause I still have pictures of you in your volunteer uniform at the hospital, remember? It's gonna look good on the entrance to the school if you bug me too much."  
  
Alex laughed and his reaction brought genuine smiles to the girls' tired faces and Maria enjoyed the brief moment of peace, before her worry about Michael and the others seeped back into her mind and took over.  
  
She would've dived into it completely if she hadn't caught the sudden and very intense look that Alex exchanged with Liz. Her eyes were narrowed with something that looked like suspicion and Maria forced herself to pay more attention to the present.  
  
"I have to know a few things before you head home, Alex," Liz said, after a few moments of quiet and Maria frowned with confusion when Alex immediately got red ears and began scratching his right wrist; a clear sign that he was about to lie if pushed too far. Alex was great at many things, but lying wasn't one of them and he had many, many obvious tells, like blushing and scratching his wrist for instance.  
  
"What do you wanna know?"  
  
"Why did you get powers so soon? As far as I know, it usually takes a minimum of one year for the powers of the healed to manifest."  
  
"Wait, what?" Maria sat up straight and glared over at Tess for conformation, not bothering to question Liz about her knowledge because she knew from a lifetime of experience that Liz Parker had ways of obtaining information that no one else had hopes of getting.  
  
Surprisingly it was Tess that ended up answering and Maria could do nothing but stare at her blankly. "It's the prize of the healing, it's something Nasedo told me about once when I tried learning more about my first life and my," her eyes darter over to Liz, who merely nodded encouragingly, "husband. Apparently, on Antar Max's ability to heal was legendary and unheard of before. We can all heal a little, but when he was born, his abilities manifested quite early on and according to Nasedo, his talents were so strong and his healings so intense that he made his patients better than they were before. I don't know much about it and neither did my guardian, but evidently, it's something that Max's human DNA couldn't squash out. He was really, really powerful when he was Zan, and he probably would've gotten even stronger if Khivar's forces and Viland…if he hadn't been killed."  
  
Tess smiled and continued with a bittersweet look in her eyes, "It's funny really. Nasedo always said that Zan was weak, that he wasted his powers on the wrong people and didn't use his potential right, that even the Antarians saw him as a weak king with too little comprehension of reality and now, across the universe and with the DNA of a inferior species, he's stronger than all of us…Got to love the irony."  
  
Not really liking the 'inferior species' comment, but too focused to be truly offended, Maria leaned forward and asked the question she didn't really want the answer too, "So does that mean we'll all get powers too? I mean, we've all been healed by Max at some point."  
  
Tess bit her lip before she nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess, although I was as confused about the quickness of the manifestation of Alex's powers as the rest of you. By all accounts, it should be Liz to get them first."  
  
Alex shrugged, "it's not hard to guess why. If you're right that Max's powers grow continually, then it makes sense. Besides, he used a lot more juice for my healing than Liz's if I remember correctly."  
  
They all nodded, deep in thought for a while, before Maria took up the conversation again.  
  
"So got any more secrets to share? You might as well get it all out now before we part ways for the day."  
  
In an instant, Alex stiffened with a look like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. Clearly there was more, but he denied it vehemently. If it wasn't for the fact that Maria still felt weak she would have continued the interrogation. In the end she hoped that she'd get another chance in the future to really question him.  
  
He looks so burdened by whatever it is and it's not a good look on him, Maria thought as she took out her cell and called her mom to let her know she'd sleep at Liz's place. She was too tired to go home and knew that Liz wouldn't mind the company.  
  
I just hope that Michael and the others will be back soon so we can finally relax again…I mean, Maria sighed and burrowed herself closer to Liz, who chuckled and lifted her injured arm out of the way, we're definitely due for some peace and quiet soon.  
  
Alex's POV  
  
It was the emotions that woke him up; the bitter taste of anxiety and rage that grew from within him. Groaning quietly at the pain in his neck from falling asleep in Liz's small desk chair, Alex looked out the window only to discover that it was dark outside and he checked his watch. They'd all been sleeping for a few hours.  
  
"You feel it too," Liz's voice surprised him, and he bit back a curse when he jolted and banged his knees into the desk. Making sure that he hadn't woken Tess or Maria up, Alex met Liz's serious looking gaze.  
  
"I woke up a few minutes ago after feeling practically nothing from my connection with Max," she explained and slowly extracted her limbs from the tangled mess of girls on her bed and began getting up as she added, "I recognize his attempts at shielding me, so I didn't think much of it since he's always been very protective, but I guess he's not that great at hiding for long periods of time and given your new powers, I think you felt it too somehow. Sorry about that by the way."  
  
"It's not your fault. Despite everything, I'd rather be alive to be woken up randomly than six feet under like I would've been if Max hadn't healed me."  
  
"True, I just sometimes forget that it was the only other alternative available, you know?" Liz smiled and in that moment, Alex realized that the brunette looked a lot more mature than he remembered seeing her. Rationally, he knew it wasn't surprising given the way her life had gone ever since last September, but still, it was hard to see firsthand.  
  
And if she's changed that much, what about me? Alex wondered, but shook off his thoughts when Liz spoke again; bending down to grab her flip-flops from under her bed.  
  
"I feel like stretching my legs, get to use some of that energy that's churning in my gut, if you get my drift. Wanna join me? We can talk about what you're not telling us," Alex tensed, unable to think of a good lie, because how did one go about revealing that they'd lived before and that their loved ones had travelled through time to save them, thus mucking stuff up in the process?  
  
It's not exactly something we can chat casually about while taking a stroll, now is it? Alex mentally rolled his eyes at the very idea, just as Liz continued with a small sigh.  
  
"Or, since that idea obviously freaks you out given the feelings you're suddenly shooting out, we could just take a walk and not say anything at all?"  
  
That suggestion was much better and Alex promptly agreed, standing up to grab the light jacket he'd tossed on the floor earlier that evening.  
  
Ten minutes later, Alex was trailing Liz down the stairs and out the backdoor into the small alley after Maria and Tess had both declined to join them. Liz had gently shook both the girls awake to ask them to come with them outside, but they both said that their bodies weren't up for any kind of movement, still being sore from whatever it was that Michael and Kyle had let seep through from their end.  
  
They walked in comfortable silence for a while until Alex couldn't control his doubled dose of curiosity and asked the question that Liz obviously was thinking about as well. "Wonder what's got Max so fired up, huh?"  
  
Smiling softly, Liz shook her head a little. "Honestly, I'm not sure I want to know right now."  
  
"Yeah, I hear you," Alex grinned awkwardly, fighting off a wave of guilt when Liz looked positively dejected as she finished, "Besides, Max keeps so many secrets and he'll never tell me if I ask. That I've learned by now at least."  
  
They walked down Main Street for a while each caught up in their own thoughts, and in Alex's case, guilt. He was busy trying not to project the feelings, using some of the relaxation techniques that Kyle Valenti of all people had given him, spouting something or other about having used them a lot when he first found out in his original timeline.  
  
It's odd to think that in another life one of my old bullies turned into one of my best friends, not to mention a peace loving Buddhist. Of course, in that other life I ended up dead because of Tess Harding, so I'll take this one. The memory of Isabel's robotic tale of his death and Tess' involvement tried to enter his weary mind, but Alex decided to focus on Kyle's advice instead. He genuinely liked the Tess of their current lives and didn't want to sully his still new friendship with her by the memory of that other girl in a life he didn't even remember.  
  
So consumed by battling his irritating powers into a somewhat submissive state, Alex failed to notice that Liz had stopped dead a few steps back. Frowning questioningly, he turned back to her and was about to ask what was wrong, when he caught both the sight and feel of her sudden panic.  
  
Instantly, Alex ran back to her side and followed her line of sight with his heart pounding in his chest and his adrenaline level rising second by second. When his eyes landed on what had freaked his normally so composed friend out, Alex felt confused.  
  
Standing on the other side of the street were two people; a tall skinny man, whose hooknose had clearly been broken more than once, with dark eyes and wrinkled skin. The other one was a kid, a young boy that couldn't possibly be more than thirteen, perhaps fourteen years old. He wore normal teenage clothing, with his dark hair gelled to look windblown, he looked completely normal, but Alex couldn't deny after one quick glance back at Liz that her eyes were locked on the kid and not the more menacing looking man next to him.  
  
"Liz?" Alex asked, feeling conflicting emotions; he could still sort of taste the echoing anger that ran through Liz from Max's end, while Isabel's feelings through his own bond were fearful and suspicious. Adding to this was the overriding panic that seemed to rob Liz of her ability to speak. In the next moment, though, Alex was consumed by a rush of pure unadulterated hate and smugness. He looked over at the weird kid, brow furrowed in concentration.  
  
The feelings emitting from that kid were by no means normal; in fact, they seemed more inhuman than anything else he'd ever 'tasted' so to speak. Not even when he'd been consumed by his own emotions and lashed out at Isabel in school had Alex been so close to losing himself and that scared him more than anything else ever had.  
  
"Alex," Liz voice sounded as if far away, "we have to run. Please, trust me. We have to hide before they get to us."  
  
The much smaller girl grabbed hold of him and Alex found himself halfway dragged further and further away from the creepy duo. He only rediscovered his senses when the kid opened his mouth and called after them, "You can run, but you can't hide." After that started picking up his pace, silently thankful for all the Dodgeball and running around in P.E. that he'd done lately, because something told him that if they didn't keep running, things would get a lot worse than anything he'd ever experienced before.  
  
Let's hope, he thought desperately praying for help, sending as much as he could of his emotions through to Isabel and gasping for air as he rounded yet another corner right after Liz, we can stall things enough for the others to help us or else we'll be dead before sunrise…   
  
TBC…  
  



	29. Isabel, Liz and Tess

**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE**

**Isabel's POV**

There was a tense, uncomfortable silence in the jeep as Max speedily drove back towards Roswell. Isabel eyed the tight grip he had on the steering wheel, preparing herself to take the wheel if his control over his powers snapped.

In the backseat Kyle and Michael were both sitting with their eyes closed and their mouths pinched tightly, both of them clearly exhausted and drained. Courtney was following them in her own car.

The thought of the female Skin, that Isabel honestly barely remembered, was enough to make her cast one more look in the rear view mirror to make sure that the Skin hadn't somehow betrayed them and called in backup on her end.

"She's one of the good guys," Michael mumbled and Isabel looked back at him with raised brows, trying to look innocent. "Don't give me that look," he added quietly, "she died for us in the original timeline and I'm sure she's willing to do it again. If nothing else, she'll be of good use to us."

Hearing that, Isabel sighed softly and turned back around. _It's truly a testament to how much we've all changed_ , she thought, feeling sad for the purity they'd all lost one way or another during their last lives. _Michael always wanted to save her if he could, but now he's prepared to use her as a shield to save us first. He'd never even contemplate using an ally or a friend like that before we went through the war_.

Kyle groaned and rubbed his stomach fervently, "Damn it, Tess is totally freaking out and her state keeps me from getting some much needed shuteye."

Wisely, Isabel held her tongue. When Michael had revealed that Kyle had bonded with Tess, she'd had to swallow the urge to go hunt the other female hybrid down to kill her as violently as possible. It was still pretty inconceivable to Isabel that Tess of all people had connected so much with Kyle in this new life. They'd acted like siblings in the other timeline. _At least until she killed Alex and mindwarped him to carry the body to the car_ , Isabel sniped inwardly before sighing heavily again.

 _I promised myself to let the unlived past be the past,_ Isabel berated herself. _Besides, now that I think about it Kyle did tell me he and Tess were hot and heavy before the sibling thing kicked in…, but then he_ was _drunk when he told me, so…Let's just hope it's not gonna be as good for her as it is for me to have a bonded human._

Isabel had only spent a few seconds thinking, but she realized she'd missed something when Kyle's shocked gasp interrupted her thinking. He looked equal parts horrified and guilty, she decided as she glanced between him and a serious looking Michael.

"What did I miss?" she asked, earning herself the attention of the duo on the backseat.

"Why didn't any of you ever tell me how to shield pain from our side of the bond? Tess has had to feel _everything_ from my end since that bastard put the whammy on me!"

Sharing one brief look with Michael and once again noticing how tired he looked, Isabel took over explaining what she could. Gently, she began, "Kyle, we never told you any of it, or showed you for that matter, because it didn't occur to us. Despite the fact that you're family and we've lived - and died in your case - in war, you're _not_ a genetically engineered hybrid. Tess was dead and we really had no way of knowing that this would ever happen. You two were like brother and sister, remember?"

Kyle looked ill at the idea of seeing Tess as a sister now, before he bit his lip and avoided Isabel's solemn gaze. Evidently, he still wasn't entirely comfortable thinking of Tess as more than a sister…or less.

 _It probably doesn't help his_ _composure that it's me telling him all of this_ , Isabel reasoned and turned back in her seat with a small smile of comfort, _we were actual lovers once – even if it only did happen one time – so it's bound to be weird getting the knowledge from me, finding out that a lot more is happening behind the scenes than he'd ever really understood_.

 _Speaking of behind the scenes_ , Isabel looked over at the eerily silent Max, finding him in the same state than before. _I can't wait to find out what happened back there with Serena and why we aren't gonna go track down Sydney and the others_ …

With one last look at her brother and her boys in the back, Isabel slowly leaned back in her own seat, staring out at the passing scenery. She was trying to charge up her batteries, so to speak, knowing that if she kept looking at Max, she wouldn't be able to keep from begging him for answers.

 _Besides_ , Isabel's mouth twitched a little, as her right hand rubbed her sternum a little; _I need to keep calm so Alex doesn't get too much on his plate. He deserves some peace and quiet._

**0o0o0**

It was a few hours later, the sun was setting slowly on the horizon, bathing them all in its glowing colors before it all turned dark and stars began to twinkle up in the sky.

Isabel would probably have enjoyed the sight a lot more, if her entire being hadn't suddenly been enveloped with a wave of chaotic emotions. It took her a moment, which felt like eternity, to sort through some of them, finding pure adrenaline fueled fear to be the most dominant one.

"Alex," she gasped, clenching the dashboard in front of her as she tried to come to grip with what was happening on the other end of her bond.

In the midst of her own feelings, Kyle and Michael's nervous 'are you okay's' from the backseat, Isabel vaguely noticed that Max was bent forward as well, his entire form shaking as if he too was in distress.

"Max…" she managed to whisper, bringing everyone's attention to him, but he merely grit his teeth and floored the accelerator.

The air in the Jeep compressed, became hot and smoldering, and Isabel's gasps for air did nothing to help her gain the least bit control over her own body.

"MAX!" Michael's bellow and Kyle's subsequent use of powers to somehow stop the car in the middle of the road finally reached Max enough for him to regain his senses; at least enough to stop reacting visibly and hurting the rest of them.

They sat there for several unending minutes while Isabel tried all she could to project as much calm and silent support to Alex, even as his emotions kept almost bowling her over from their massive intensity. She tried to listen to Michael's questioning of Max, who replied in short, distracted sentences like he too was being overwhelmed by Liz's feelings.

The growing panic and confusion that Alex was going through and the fact that she couldn't help him was nearly Isabel's undoing, but she reached into that unwanted part of herself that had lived through war and tragedy to find her inner strength once again.

A few more moments passed by before she felt more or less in control again. Turning to her brother, Isabel quietly asked the question that would determine what would happen next. "How far away from Roswell are we?"

Max glanced at her, briefly ripped away from his own personal torment to answer. "If we hurry, maybe half an hour, but probably a little more."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Isabel looked back at Kyle with a raised brow, "fix this damn car and let's go before we end up losing our family again."

Kyle nodded and closed his eyes, drawing strength from within before there was a slight coughing sound from the engine of the Jeep and the engine came back to life. Max didn't turn to thank Kyle, already putting the vehicle back into gear and racing onwards with a silent air of pure desperation around him.

Isabel managed one sincere smile herself, before her mind was once more caught up in whatever Alex was going through. _Please_ , she began to pray, feeling more desperate for some kind of luck than she'd been since the time she, Michael and Max had been barricaded in the cave with the Granolith to begin finalizing their plan to travel back in time. _Please don't let us be too late this time. I can't lose any one again; I can't live without Alex one more time._ Please _give us the time we need to save them all_ …

Next to her, Max's fingers kept clenching and unclenching around the steering wheel, his dark eyes trained on the road ahead, completely focused on getting to his soul mate in time and for one short second, Isabel _almost_ felt bad for Nicholas and those who'd gone after Liz. At least, until another spike of pure fear raced through her and Isabel lost every other thought in her head that wasn't focused entirely on Alex.

 _We're coming, Alex_ , she thought, praying he'd hear her wherever he was, _just hang in there for a little bit longer._

**Liz's POV**

"Come on, get in here," Liz was gasping, but her voice was firm as she grabbed her friend and all but shoved the bigger boy in behind a dumpster that was standing near the public library. It was as far away from The Crashdown as she'd been able to manage in an attempt to make sure the Skin, Nicholas didn't find Maria or Tess.

"Do you think they saw us?" Alex was panting a lot more than she was, but it wasn't exactly surprising. Alex was a lot of things, but an athlete wasn't one of them.

Liz dared to move out of her crouch to check, only to find that unfamiliar male Skin standing mere feet away from their hiding spot in the dark. She instantly moved back with a silent gasp of surprise. Shaking her head and gesturing to be quiet, Liz took a brief moment to think over what had made her run before the two strangers had even spoken to them.

It was hard to explain but the moment she'd laid eyes on them, Liz had _known_ that they were Skins, despite the fact she really had no idea what that meant. A small part of her had flashed back to one of those too short memories she'd unlocked or whatever it was, during her torture at Agent Pierce's facility. That had been where she'd gotten the name of the young boy, Nicholas, and somehow known without a shred of doubt that he was the real danger to them; not the much bigger and much more intimidating figure next to him, but the teenager himself.

Liz chanced one more quick peek to see if the coast was clear to move again and breathed a sigh of relief to see that no one was around. Nodding to Alex for him to follow her, Liz slowly got back up from her crouch and immediately darted in the same direction they'd just come from.

She heard Alex right behind her and Liz was sure they'd manage to escape unscathed until suddenly she heard an undignified yelp and a curse and even without turning around, Liz knew that Alex had been caught. For one selfish second, Liz wondered if she could go on and live with herself, but her inner goodness prevailed and she slowly turned around.

Her eyes locked first with Alex, who looked terrified and angry all at the same time. His emotions seemed to be in his control, but she credited that to the fact that the large man holding him was remarkably calm and that was probably keeping Alex grounded in the midst of everything. Letting her eyes move a bit to the right, Liz's gaze landed on Nicholas.

The otherworldly eternal teenager looked positively smug. He was a little winded as well, and Liz figured he wasn't used to moving around that much. She took perverse pleasure in seeing the sweat on his face; half-way hoping that he'd succumb to the exhaustion and drop dead.

"Hello, Ava," he greeted her with a mocking bow that made Liz bristle defensively.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she responded harshly and added, "let my friend go!"

The smug look turned into a condescending smirk that danced on his prepubescent lips, "Well, I would," he said, "but he may be useful to us yet - _Especially_ if he means enough for you to stop running away. Things will be a lot easier on all of us if you just listen to what I have to say and do exactly as I demand."

"I'm not good at following orders," Liz bit out through a clenched jaw, while inwardly her mind was running a hundred miles per hour. _Ava? Why does that name sound so familiar? He's convinced I'm her, but I'm just Liz Parker_ …A brief image blew through Liz's mind and suddenly she had an image of a very weird looking Tess with pink highlights and piercings.

She tried to keep her facial expression completely bland even as she desperately attempted to beat down the growing rush of images flooding her mind. _This is so not the time,_ she thought angrily, _I don't have to know stuff like this right now, I only need to know that these people are evil and we're in danger if we don't figure something out as soon as possible!_

Using as much willpower as she could, Liz slowly managed to push her confusing mindscape aside enough for her to concentrate more fully on the matter at hand: Saving Alex and getting away from Nicholas without leading him to her other friends.

"If it makes you feel any better," Nicholas' tone was grating on Liz's last nerves, but she didn't react visibly other than deepening her scowl, "don't see it as following orders, but giving in to my request."

"Well," Liz sighed, her heart pounding a million miles per hour in her chest, sending a no doubt staggering amount of emotion Max's way, "when you put it like that…Please let my friend go, and I'll do whatever you want."

The enemy alien was tempted, it was obvious. He barely glanced at Alex as he started to struggle more desperately. "Don't! I'm not worth it," he cried out, doubling over in pain when his captive punched him savagely in the gut to silence him.

"Alex," Liz waited till he looked up again, an idea forming in her mind "I wish you could feel what I'm feeling right now…" His eyes glinted with understanding as she continued in a deceptively sad tone of voice, "It's devastating and I don't want to feel like this anymore, so I have to try to save you – to save us all." _Please let him get it,_ she prayed silently with baited breath.

A beat of silence went by before Alex sighed and straightened up. Nicholas and the other eyed them both with suspicion until suddenly, Alex closed his eyes and some _thing_ took away their ability to concentrate altogether.

Liz was affected too, her heart constricting painfully and she didn't know whether to scream out in agony or hope for the relief of passing out. She'd hoped his newfound powers could help if he really cranked it up, but this was _too_ much, too hard, too sad—

"LIZ!"

She was roughly, but _thankfully_ , pulled out of her mounting despair when Alex's arms shook her wildly an undisclosed amount of time later. Glancing under his arms, Liz caught sight of both Nicholas and the other one lying on the ground, moaning with their eyes firmly shut and their hands in their hair. To her disgust there were several pieces of skin on each of their cringing faces that seemed to be in the midst of falling off. She had to look away and swallow deeply a few times to beat off the wave of nausea the sight caused her.

"Snap out if it," Alex yelled and began dragging her away from the downed aliens with as much speed as he could manage. That was when Liz noticed the light sheen of sweat on her friend's pale skin and the dark circles under his eyes; clearly it had taken a lot out of him to purposely use his new abilities and she felt a rush of guilt that finally managed to send her right back to herself again with a resounding bang.

"Come with me!" She hissed and took over the dragging part and pulled on Alex's long arm to get him to follow her. "We'll find somewhere quiet long enough for us to call for help and to warm Maria and Tess to be careful too."

Some minutes later found the fleeing duo in the only other populated area in town in the evenings; the local pool hall slash bar that Liz had a weird sense of déjà vu in as soon as she stepped through the door. The loud music and the chattering of dozens of people rattled her even as she felt grateful for their presence. A small part of her hoped that Nicholas wouldn't publicly make a grab for her, that he still needed to maintain at least _some_ semblance of normalcy in the world.

"Do you have your cell phone with you?" she asked Alex as soon as they'd walked into the most crowded area of the room. His dejected expression told her the answer before he even spoke.

"I didn't think we'd need it, Liz. It was just supposed to be a quick walk, nothing else. How was I to know that we'd be running for our lives and—"

"Don't worry, Alex," she interrupted before his anxiety could take over his exhausted state of mind, hoping that the chaos of different emotions in the room would make sure he could take out any specific feelings to feed on so to speak. "There's a payphone in the hall by the restrooms, I'll go call Maria to warn her and Tess and you can call Isabel right after that."

Alex looked sheepish, embarrassed almost, clearly he hated not being completely in control of himself and Liz didn't blame him one bit. "I don't think we have to call Isabel and tell her anything…I….uhm," he glanced around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation, "I _think_ my ability heightened our connection. I haven't gotten a complete handle on this power, or anything and I'm almost sure my reaction to that kid and my brief stint as a hostage kinda tipped her off big time. Her emotions are running rampant with worry, anger and fear right now. I guess it's lucky I'm so beat or I'd be hyped up on it way more than I am already."

Frowning a little at Alex's words, Liz simply nodded and asked for money to the telephone, in case her limited amount wasn't going to cut it, because Maria _did_ have a tendency to babble incessantly during freak outs _._

 _And let's face it_ , Liz thought, making her way through the throng of people around her, _this freak out may be putting the other ones she's had lately to shame. I just really hope her screams won't attract attention from Mom and Dad or any of the Skins_ …

As she quickly dialed the number to Maria's phone, Liz pondered over Alex's words about Isabel and their bond. _It's weird_ ; she thought as she listened to the tone in her ear, _I've barely felt Max since before he left. There was that odd spike of anguish and hurt earlier, but since then it's like it's just gone. Like he doesn't want me to know what's going on with him anymore after I asked for time to think…I guess our bond just isn't as strong as the other's– Hell, even Kyle Valenti is involved with Tess now for some reason and_ —

"Who's this?" Maria's voice brought Liz tumbling back to the present and it took her a few seconds to get her mouth working properly. Seconds that immediately kicked up her best friend's paranoia. "I swear, if you don't stop breathing heavy like a pervert, I'm gonna go all over town until I find you and then I'll _definitely_ show you that my cute blonde self is way more than you could ever handle so stop freaking me out by calling with secret numbers and crap."

She'd probably have continued for a while yet, but Liz raised her voice as much as she dared and cut through any further rants. "Maria DeLuca, quick acting crazy and _listen_ to me!"

" _Liz_?"

"Don't freak out, okay." Liz cursed inwardly when Maria's voice immediately turned up so high that dogs in Canada could probably hear it and tried again, "Maria; you _need_ to listen and do exactly what I say, okay?"

"…O-Okay," the reply was hesitant, but firm and Liz quickly told Maria what had happened ever since she and Alex had decided to go out for a walk.

**0o0o0**

Nearly twenty minutes later, Liz and Alex were getting a few looks, standing as they were next to the most active pool table, where their teenage selves didn't exactly fit in with the middle-aged biker types that were playing. _And it doesn't help that Alex's anxiety is affecting everybody, cranking us all up with paranoia,_ Liz thought, forcing herself to stop fidgeting, _Or that just before we walked over here, I had a screaming match to calm Maria down over the phone…_

Liz didn't get more time to think about how Maria's screech of fear and outrage most likely had awoken the entire neighborhood, considering the yelp from Tess she'd heard in the background as the hybrid was shocked into wakefulness. Just as she'd decided to go back and call her friends again, there was a sudden hush in the crowd and Liz didn't need Alex's flinch to tell her that they'd been found.

Before anyone realized what was happening, Liz grabbed Alex and they snuck out the backdoor and into the alley that ironically enough they'd both hid in earlier that night. Sadly, they didn't get far.

Nicholas' accomplice stood watch at the only escape route and Liz's heart rate went right back into overdrive the second she spotted him. It didn't take long before Nicholas showed up as well, standing mock casually behind them in the doorway.

"Fancy meeting you here," he said, smiling coldly with anger burning in his eyes. Evidently, he didn't care much for the hide and seek aspect of the evening so far. Liz didn't feel that bad about it, but she did swallow down her fear at the idea of angering the alien more.

 _At least we got to warn Maria and Tess_ , Liz tried calming herself down a bit as they all stood immobile for a long second, _Alex can use his powers again when he's gotten a little more rest and I'll…I'll stall as much as I can._

"Now, Little Girl," Nicholas' tone was eerily polite, making Liz want to rebel, but she forced her instincts down. "We're gonna talk and that human of yours better watch it or else…Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal."

"Kent, make sure he can't do that shit again," Nicholas ordered and before Liz – or Alex for that matter – could do more than cry out in objection, the large Skin, Kent catapulted into movement and a few seconds later, Alex was lying unconscious on the ground, bleeding from a rather nasty looking head wound from where Kent had slammed his fist into his temple.

Liz moved to run to him, but Nicholas raised a finger and shook his head warningly. Unable to stand looking at the deceptively innocent face, she turned and stared down at her hurt friend. _Please somebody find us_ , she prayed fervently, _Alex has to get help._

"Now," Nicholas spoke again, ending Liz's brief stint into desperation long enough for her to glare heatedly down at him, "don't look at me like that, we needed to talk and with _that_ distracting you, you'd never really listen. So, I did you a favor, Ava."

"My name isn't—"

"No, I apologize," the teenage looking alien raised his hands in fake apology, "I should call you your new name, Liz. It's just that, since I last saw you, you have changed so much that it's hard to remember you're actually you if I don't use your original name. I'll do better from now on, you have my word."

"I don't want _anything_ from you."

"I know, but consider it a pleasantry then, because I need you to listen to me so I can report back to my boss that I did what I could."

Liz crossed her arms, thinking hard in a try to find some kind of solution, but Nicholas seemed to take her silence as agreement and stepped closer with a little bit of caution.

"Now, I'm well aware of you Antarians and your superior abilities, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't…Oh, wait; Ava has never been the biggest combat oriented person so I doubt it will have transferred over to you so much." He grinned and for one moment, Liz wanted nothing more than to be able to use some kind of powers on him, killing him on the spot, but her natural personality took over and she felt horrified over the unexplained bloodthirstiness she'd suddenly sported.

"Before you say anything," Nicholas continued, obviously not worried in the least about her supposed powers now that Alex was out from the count, "consider me a friend. I'm here to help you, believe it or not. You've always had a great tendency to follow wholeheartedly after that fool husband of yours, but I'm here to warn you that the loyalty you have for him is in vain and also," his smug smile returned tenfold before he added, "Khivar has informed me that not everyone of the Royal Four are as loyal as you are."

For some reason, Liz knew exactly what to say and before she could talk herself out of it, she opened her mouth to coolly reply, "If you're talking about Vilandra, don't bother with that spiel. She's not _her_ anymore, she's Isabel Evans and she's got a bigger heart than all of us combined. You can't put a wedge through us anymore; she won't betray her family again."

"Well," Liz's heart constricted at the pleased tone in Nicholas' voice, "then I suppose it's good that we've got the queen and not the princess in our clutches. Now, listen here; you _will_ tell that husband of yours to give us the Granolith or we will kill you. You will tell him to get Vilandra to join us so my boss can have his old lover back and," Nicholas grinned evilly and took one step closer to her, "here's the kicker: If you don't do anything, if you don't join of your own free will, we'll kill that boy over there, your so called parents and everyone else you care about on this wretched planet. Do we have an understanding?"

Liz swallowed heavily, frantically trying to get her allegedly brilliant mind to come up with some kind of escape plan, but it didn't seem to cooperate and she wanted nothing more than to fall to the ground and sob her heart out. Instead, she kept her head high and did the only thing she could under these circumstances.

She fought back to save her friends and family. Without a word, Liz exploited the fact that Nicholas had gotten so close to her and swung out her cast clad arm as hard as she could and slammed the would-be-boy right in the throat.

Instantly, Nicholas doubled over, clutching his throat as he gagged violently. Liz heard him croak a curse word but didn't intend to stay around him for too long. Instead, she turned just in the nick of time to avoid a vicious stroke from a growling Kent.

Liz wanted nothing more than to grab Alex and make a break for it, but she knew that it was impossible. _Hopefully they'll be so mad at me that they'll forget about him and chase after me,_ she hoped silently and dodged another strike from the angry Skin.

Using Dodgeball skills that frankly surprised Liz more than a little, she managed to avoid capture for a little while longer and for one short moment, she thought she was going to succeed in her escape plan - Except, Nicholas proved to be a lot tougher than his youthful body seemed.

"Got you, you little _bitch_ ," he sneered hoarsely, his voice still suffering from her earlier blow. His slender arms were like steel around her waist and even though Liz immediately used some of the tricks her dad once taught her and tried to head butt the Skin, it was pointless.

"I didn't want to do this," he whispered in her ear, sending puffs of warm, moist air over her skin that sent a shiver down her spine, "but I guess you can't be reasoned with. Kent!" He raised his voice a fraction and the other Skin jogged over to them with a serious expression on his face.

Liz's eyes darted between them as they had what seemed like a silent conversation between them until Kent nodded mutely and held out a hand in her direction. Instinctively, Liz just knew it wasn't a good thing to be touched by him, that she should step up her struggles to get away before it was too late.

She did squirm and move as much as she could, not willing to give up. But even as Liz cried out in refusal to submit she _knew_ it was futile and a mere moment later she was proven right. Kent's scaly fingers touched her forehead and everything in Liz disappeared into a massive swirling vortex of pure suffering just as someone cried out her name.

**Tess' POV**

She'd been asleep without any of her usual haunted dreams of Nasedo trying to get her to kill her friends, and lately Kyle. It was the sound of hushed yelling that woke her up in the end and Tess yelped a little at the sudden loudness around here. After that she groaned softly, burrowing down in the soft pillow she'd somehow wrapped herself completely around and tried to get back to sleep before her constant worry about Kyle could wake her up entirely.

"… _kidding_ me right now? It's dangerous to you too, I'm not gonna stay here and…No… _Liz_!"

Maria's voice turned increasingly more panicked and Tess finally opened her eyes and saw her friend pacing furiously back and forward across Liz's bedroom floor. _Considering how pained I still am, I'm betting it's hurting her right now so she must really be wired up,_ Tess surmised and slowly sat up to avoid aggravating the hurting bones inside of her.

 _Whatever it was that Kyle went through_ , Tess thought, running a slightly trembling hand through her curls _, I just hope it wasn't as bad for him as for me…Oh who am I kidding_ , she sighed and bit her lip in silent worry, _Kyle must have felt it_ ten _times more than me. I hope he's okay_ …

"Tess?" She looked over at Maria, who stood with her cell phone limply in her right hand. The look on Maria's face managed to cut through the haze of weariness that Tess had been battling with ever since Kyle's attack.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"It was Liz calling to tell us that we're in danger." Maria seemed at the end of her rope, and Tess walked over and hesitantly placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder. Human tendencies like soothing a friend in need were still so very new and foreign to her, but she was damn well willing to give her all.

"I'm listening." Tess murmured and gently led Maria over to the rumpled up bed to sit down more comfortably.

Five minutes later, Tess was shaking and trying to beat down the selfish part of her that just wanted to flee, if not the country then at the very least the _state_.

"This is bad, Maria," she whispered, feeling completely horrorstruck. "Those Skins, I heard Nasedo talk about once or twice over the years. They scared him and trust me, Nasedo wasn't scared of _anything_. I hate to say this, but we're really in danger right now."

Maria frowned, her forefinger and thumb fingering a small bottle that Tess recognized as one of Maria's soothing oils. "So what do we do now?"

"We do as Liz said and stay here, I'll put up some kind of barricade and hope it lasts long enough to keep us safe."

"Nah ah," Maria shook her head and stood back up with a speed that Tess didn't know she had in her, "Liz and Alex are out there; they're my two best friends in the whole world. I'm not leaving them alone while I cower here in the dark. Sure, the dark is a nice place where I can hide pretty well, now that I think about it, and I sure as hell don't wanna die or anything, but…" Maria's eyes lit up with a seldom seen light that did something to Tess' innards, something that almost made her feel ashamed more than anything else as the human continued softly, "but I _need_ to do what Liz – and Alex – would do for me and help any way that I can."

"We can't do anything," Tess murmured, only just then realizing that she too had stood up as if to follow the other blonde subconsciously. "We're just two people."

"No," Maria argued with a smile that made her look wise beyond her years, "we're one admittedly dramatic human with crafty planning abilities _and_ one Czechoslovakian who's been raised by a serial killer. I'd say we've got just as good a shot out there as Liz and Alex do."

Tess bit her lip thoughtfully, trying to muster up the courage to exit Liz's bedroom. _I've been trained for these types of situations,_ she rationalized as Maria slowly began to get ready, _I wanted to be a part of this and I can't back out just because I'm scared now…Besides I've got Kyle to protect too. He's just a human and he's gonna need me to back him up._

"Fine," she conceded after an image of a hurt Kyle entered her mind, forcing her to admit more than ever that whatever feelings she'd developed for the sheriff's son, they were stronger than she'd ever imagined. "Let's do this."

Maria nodded with a small smile and to Tess' surprise, she held out a hand with a can of pepper spray that she'd seemingly pulled out of nowhere before pocketing it for herself. "What?" her eyes danced with subtle amusement, "Liz is an only child _and_ a girl. Let's just say that Mr. Parker has shown both of us a thing or two over the years and believes in being prepared."

Despite _everything_ that was going on, despite Kyle's repeated spikes of pain and guilt and whatever it was they were about to head out in, Tess couldn't help but chuckle loudly at her human friend's sheepish smile and found in that moment that Kyle suddenly wasn't the only one she was ready to fight for.

**0o0o0**

Walking down the street with an increasingly more desperate blonde, who was sniffing a bottle of calming drops like nobody's business in the middle of the night, was something Tess had no desire to repeat. Especially since said blonde had not stopped mumbling about how much she really hated evil Czechoslovakians in a more and more loud voice that attracted curious looks from the few people that walked near them on their way.

Finally, Tess had had enough and she turned to Maria with a raised brow. "Look," she hissed angrily, "you're not the only one who's worried, but since it was your idea to leave Liz's apartment in the first place, I'd really like it if you'd just shut up for one little second so we can hear if something's going on that isn't supposed to – you know, so we could actually _help_ if needed!"

Maria did a great imitation of a pout that made her look like a seven year old. Tess doubted the other blonde realized it at the time though, and then she sighed after one long moment of silence. "I'm sorry, Tess. I'm just not good under pressure, I guess. Usually Liz is the one leading me in those kinds of situations…I just really worry about my friends and Michael's not doing well, I can feel it and it worries me and," Maria sighed again and once more looked way more burdened than anyone her age really should in Tess' opinion, "to be honest I'm so scared."

Tess wanted to be able to lend a shoulder for Maria to lean on, but the part of her that had been raised by a merciless guardian turned killer wanted to slap her back into the real world. There was no time for this type of behavior, she could almost hear Nasedo's deep voice in her ear and she had to repress an urge to glance around to make sure he wasn't there. Ultimately though, Tess' newfound softer side won out and she managed to smile briefly with as much reassurance as she could muster up.

"We're gonna help our friends and Michael and Kyle and the others are gonna be fine. Tomorrow we'll all be laughing about this, I'm sure. Now come on, Maria, we haven't even looked inside the place Liz called from yet."

The two girls stood immobile for a moment before Maria's lip twitched self-deprecatingly, "You're not just saying that to make me feel better, are you? 'Cause if you are, you _really_ need to work on your acting skills."

Tess shook her head in denial with a matching smile on her lips and was about to say something when she heard a brief shout not far from where they were standing. Chills travelled down her spine and she shared a quick, anxious look with Maria; that voice belonged to Liz. Before she really knew how, Tess had commanded Maria to stay hidden and had exploded into movement, all thoughts about her own pain forgotten in the face of true danger to one of her only real friends.

She ran like she'd never run before in her life, a few moments later turning a corner and freezing instantly at the sight in front of her. Alex was on the ground, unmoving and Liz was in the arms of what appeared to be an everyday teenager with a huge beast of a man leaning over her.

Just as Tess arrived at the terrifying scene, the man touched Liz and the moaning gasp of pain reminded Tess of her own short minute in pain earlier that day and without really knowing how or why, she just snapped, anger fueling her more than she'd ever felt before in her life.

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF LIZ!" she screamed and reached out with all of her being and sent a bolt of crushing power towards the male, whose right arm immediately exploded into millions of pieces, sending bits of skin, bone and blood everywhere.

The scream of agony was like music to Tess' ears and for one short second, she spared enough mental capacity to worry about the pure joy she felt at administrating pain until her attention was caught by the teenager still holding Liz like his little life depended on it.

"W-Who the hell are you?" he sneered after he'd composed himself a little from her icy glare.

"I'm the one who's going to kill you if you don't put down my best friend," Tess practically growled and watched with inward confusion as the boy's eyes suddenly widened, darting from the unconscious Liz, who still seemed to be in pain for some reason, and back to herself.

"She's human," he then murmured and Tess cocked her head a little, feeling an unprecedented and instinctual need to save Max's mate.

"Yeah, and she's my king's woman, so I'd be careful with her if I were you."

"You're Ava?" The boy seemed completely gobsmacked at the whole idea, but Tess, who recognized the name, nodded with a sneer. "B-but you're supposed to be _weak_ , not this…this—"

He stopped and then smiled such a creepy grin and Tess felt a sudden urge to find a washroom to scrub her skin raw. "Well, you're actually the one I came looking for in the first place."

Tess frowned; watching with growing irritation as the teenage enemy unceremoniously threw Liz to the ground and firmly told his moaning partner to shut the hell up. Then, he turned his full attention to her and she had to force herself not to react outwardly.

"Now that we've found the _real_ queen, I have a proposition for you…"

Tess crossed her arms, sensing that for the moment she or her friends weren't in any further danger. "What kind of proposition?"

The young boy grinned widely and Tess' inner alarms started blaring as he calmly told her about wanting her to switch sides. "…and as a bonus," he finished with a grand hand gesture that he might have thought looked great, but in reality made him look foolish, in Tess' biased opinion, "…none of your little weaklings friends will be hurt further, we'll even take them to a hospital to be looked at. So what do you say, Your Majesty?"

Tess swallowed harshly, her heart pumping faster and faster as her mind searched out the best response. _If I do as he says, I'll be able to help Liz and Alex to stay alive…If I do as he says, I'll get the power that I've missed my whole life, fulfilling my destiny to be queen like Nasedo always wanted_. She bit her lip as a sudden rush of images flashed through her mind _ **; Liz smiling in welcome when she first came to the school, Maria's protective friendship when her fellow hybrids had been less than welcome, Kyle's warm eyes when he'd first met her, Max's solemn face as he promised to stop leaving her out of the group, Alex's worry that she'd reject him for his new power burst, Isabel's beautiful face soft in regret at hurting her feelings, and Michael's rarely seen smile as they stood in the kitchen, trying new recipes that fit their unique taste buds.**_

"I _will_ kill your friends if you don't make a decision soon," the boy's eerie polite voice told her and Tess forced herself back to the present with a small jolt.

"I…" she took a deep breath and with one final glance over at her downed friends that sent a tug through her heart, Tess continued quietly, "You don't have to do that…I've made my decision."

"Great," the young looking Skin clapped his hands with a smile. "Now, Kent here will make sure your friends are taken to the hospital and we'll talk business, you and I."

"Yeah…" Tess whispered, clenching her hands roughly in growing despair as her mind battled her heart. "Let's talk business."

 **TBC** …


	30. Max, Alex and Nicholas

Max's POV

The night was still, almost eerie in its complete abandonment of sound and life. Max enjoyed it on several levels; mostly due to the fact that the silence would be yet another way to ensure no one got too close to their temporary camp.

The soft patter of steps coming from behind him was an excellent example of that fact. Max smiled gently as two familiar arms wound themselves around his waist and his wife's warm body pressed itself up against his back.

"Come back to bed, Max."

It was like he was in another body, as if he was watching himself from the outside. He could see the white knuckles on the steering wheel as he pushed the jeep to give everything it had to return to Roswell, to Liz, as fast as possible. A part of him could hear the chatter of his friends and family in the car, but it didn't register. Nothing mattered. The only thing that was clear were the memories that Serena's soul had somehow grasped and brought back to life with a clarity that sent shivers of forgotten misery, pain and longing through his entire being.

He was sitting quietly with his sobbing sister in his arms, her warm tears leaving damp evidence of her heartbreak. Around him were the others that hadn't died…yet, his treacherous mind pointed out even as his arms tightened in response to Isabel's muffled cries of mourning for Kyle.

"He didn't have to die," the words were choked and hoarse as she kept repeating them in the crook of his neck.

A small part of Max cringed at the repressed feelings the memories brought back in his weakened mental state, his sanity hanging by a thread after all that had happened recently; the possibility of losing Liz a second time very real and something he knew he'd never recover from.

His body ached terribly as he stood mutely alongside his brother in all but blood, painstakingly carving out their wives' last resting place with their hands. The sun was burning his already bleeding back, aggravating his injuries even more so. Michael eventually responded to Isabel when they brought out the body of his deceased lover, but Max couldn't find it in him to acknowledge them; the agony inside of him numbing him completely to other people's struggles. The hole had to be perfect, nothing less…

Max bit his lip until he could taste the coppery tang of blood, that particular memory wasn't one he ever wanted to think about if he could help it. He'd lost himself utterly and completely after Liz's death and begun his true crusade to extract vengeance on Khivar like never before, losing his grip on humanity more and more with each passing day until returning to the past and rediscovering his sense of self.

"Max," Serena's tinkling voice was more somber than he'd ever heard, but still, a part of him thought – hoped – that she was merely jesting even though she'd already said it three times before, "I don't want to be saved."

"You're out of your mind," Max finally managed to force through gritted teeth, "You just don't know better."

Serena raised a brow in a manner that she'd clearly adopted from Maria. "Excuse me, Mister, but I'm pretty sure I know what I know and not what you think I should know…You know?"

Unable to mimic her smile, Max merely stood immobile until her slight grin faltered at his non-reaction. When she stood motionless, he continued to speak.

"I came back to save us all, not just my wife. You're a part of my family too and if you don't want to be healed because of the possible danger, I get that, I really do, but…" Max took a deep breath before adding softly, "you deserve to live and we're all ready to step back and not let you know us in this life as long as you and the rest of the Unit are safe, Rena."

Serena's eyes darkened at the sound of his nickname for her, but she stood patiently while Max struggled to put his reasons into words. "You all died because of that war, because of us and in your case because of me. None of you deserved that life; you had all killed before you reached adulthood. Hell, none of you evenreached adulthood because that senseless war."

Max knew that if he'd been in his own body, he'd be trembling and quite possibly screaming those last few words out, but since he was stuck inside Serena's peaceful mind and his corporal body stood in her bedroom with a no doubt anxious Isabel keeping watch, Max settled for cursing inwardly.

Serena stood silently forwhat felt like an eternity to Max, who hoped that his words had somehow penetrated her shell, had given her a reason to just do as he wanted for her. Then, slowly, Serena took a deep breath and moved closer to him where she somehow proceeded to kick his shin with a lot more glee than a time traveling presence from the past really ought to in Max's biased opinion.

He didn't get a lot of time to think about that though, because next thing he knew, Serena was yelling angrily in his face. "How many times do we have to die before you pull that stick outta your ass and think things through? Why is everything always your responsibility, huh? Believe me when I say that the rest of the Unit kids completely agree with me. We talked about regrets and sorrows more times than I can even count, Max. Sure, we died in the war – voluntarily, I might add – and that sucks big time. We were kids, but like you and the others we never really had the chance of a normal childhoodonce our powers manifested or have you forgotten those pesky little things, eh? My capacity to understand Antarian technology and the ability to hack any computer in the worldmade everyone else seem stupid by comparison., Eric threw fire and was unable to control it before finding us. Do you remember that he accidentally killed his classmates on a fieldtrip when they bullied him? Let's not forget little Sydney, who's billionaire dad flinched every time they were in close contact because he was suffering from being Larek's host body and her ability to manipulate molecules freaked him out more than anything or—"

"I get it," Max held up his hand, practically growling in frustration, "we ruined your lives; I ruined everything and I'm sorry, but I just can't let you die needlessly again."

"Whoever said we blame you, Max? That's something you have to work on, my friend; not everything is your fault. Yeah, your healing gave us powers that eventually made us seek you out and join the fight so to speak, but most of us would've died as kids in Phoenix anyway. I got a lot of extra years with a family that believed in the good in people and didn't give up no matter what. It gave me a lot of hope for mankind, really."

They stood without speaking for a minute, before Max, feeling increasingly desperate, tried again, "None of you deserve to die, Rena…"

"I know that," the young woman whispered tiredly and continued gently, "You can save the others by somehow getting them to a hospital in the near future. Their condition isn't very advanced or only just beginning and in our last life, it was mostly discovered too late and if you somehow get them to a check up early on, there's a very good chance for them. Use Izzie's powers to freak the parents into getting them to a doctor or something…"

"And you, what about you?" Max knew, he just had to hear Serena say the words one more time. "What about you?"

The smile that formed on the girl's plump lips nearly broke Max's heart completely, it was heart wrenching to see her so certain and serene in the face of her own illness.

"It's already too late for me, Max. I'm going to that ward in about a week. I was the one who lived there the longest, aside from Eric. I had my life, Brother, and I spent it doing exactly what I should and when I somehow figured out a way to give this plea to you, I jumped at the chance. Also," Serena suddenly looked her age again and Max's heart clenched even more, "I really wanted to see how everyone was doing, which brings me to my final selling point."

"Oh?" Max frowned and then paled rapidly a moment after Serena finished talking.

"If you save us this time around, with your current power level then you're only accelerating things beyond your control and I really don't think a five year old fire maniac like Eric is something you'll be able to handle discreetly – I mean, he was bad enough when he was nine, right?"

"What do you mean with my current level?" Max had a foreboding feeling, but prayed his suspicions were incorrect until Serena solemnly answered his question.

"When you travelled back; you, Michael and Isabel took over your former bodies with all they entailed. That means you took over the current powers they had and mixed it with the abilities and strengths from your old life, gaining a lot more power than previously. It's something that's gonna affect you all, but since you're the only healer, Max, it means that the molecule changes that your healing brings forth in humans, happens a lot faster. It'll be faster still if you're all doing it in tandem like when you healed Michael that one time in that cave or whatever it was. The four of you were meant to work as a solitary unit and lending each other strengths whenever needed.

"That's why Alex got his powers already," Max murmured to himself, and Serena's nod of agreement settled it completely.

"Then…What about Liz? Whyhaven't her abilities showed up yet?" Max asked, finding familiarity in the way he automatically listened to the much younger Serena, whose knowledge had helped them survive far longer than was plausible in their original lives. "I healed her the very first day we showed up here, yet she's powerless."

"I don't really know that," Serena shocked him by replying. "I have an inkling only, but you'll have to forgive me if it's wrong. I think she's already got her powers to some degree but that something is blocking her."

Serena smiled, seemingly growing younger with every passing moment and half of Max dreaded the moment she'd send him away, leaving her to die even as the rest of him was itching to learn more about the many questions they'd asked themselves ever since returning.

"What do you mean? She's got powers already or what?"

"I think that she, and the other bonded humans have somehow travelled with you. I mean," Serena clarified softly, "I think that the part of their souls that you all carried went with you to this time and slowly merged with their counterparts and some of that power and the memories are buried in them all."

"That doesn't explain Kyle," Max muttered, even as a fierce hope began to lighten up his chest with pure happiness, "he's the human and he somehow came back without being healed and even without being bonded too."

Serena sighed tiredly, seeming to grow more weary with every passing second, but she still appeared willing to answer as many questions as she could, "Again, I'm not quite sure. Truly, I believe that it all stems from the fact that Tess was never meant to betray us all. That her unintentionally half-formed bond with Kyle stuck with him or something and when you all returned, it came with you through powers way more mystically than I can fathom. Heck, Max; I don't know everything and I don't wanna go the God way, but maybe it was divine intervention for good deeds or something…Just be thankful for it because Kyle was a powerhouse and you can never go wrong with that, right?"

His head wasspinning with all the information given to him, but Max managed to use his old ability to compartmentalize as much as he could and decided to plea with his surrogate child one last time.

"I love you, Rena. I don't wanna see you go."

Her small image seemed to shrink down to her sleeping counterpart's age, her hands embraced his cheeks gently and she placed a small, warm kiss on the tip of his nose. "Just promise me one thing."

"Anything," Max breathed, swallowing hard.

"When everything is over; when you've finished with the Skins and made Khivar realize none of you want to be involved in the war again…when," Serena's voice hitched a little and Max's heart went out to her, "when everything is bright and happy and wonderful…just…please don't forget me, okay?"

"Rena…" Max enveloped her tiny frame in his arms and savored the childlike scent that hit his nose, knowing that this was the last time he'd ever see her alive. "We'll never forget or stop loving you; you have my word on that, Sweetie."

He could feel her smile against the crook of his neck and imprinted the memory in his mind immediately. "Good," her muffled, childish voice said, "Because you have to go now…You're needed elsewhere."

"Wha–?"

Next thing he knew, Max felt himself being forced back out of Serena's mind and found himself standing back in the corporeal world in her bedroom, his mind desperately trying to make sense of everything that had just happened.

"Max?"

Isabel's concerned voice somehow managed to intrude on the last memory of Serena, and he forced himself to look at his sister briefly, which seemed to be enough for her at the present time. Mutely, his attention turned back on the road, reveling in the fact that they had finally arrived back in Roswell.

"I'm following Liz's whereabouts through the bond," he said quietly and advised softly, "You three should do the same with your bonded."

Kyle, Michael and Isabel all nodded in tandem and closed their eyes tightly.

I'm coming Liz, Max mentally told his absent love as he too reached out as far as his senses would let him, I'll end this war before it can start this time, I swear. Just hold on, I can't lose you too…

Alex's POV

The pain was nauseating at first; his entire body throbbed in pure agony and it took the gangly teenager a while to remember what had caused it in the first place.

As Alex slowly came back to his senses, he could feel that there was a warm, sticky feeling on the back of his head, with throbs of pain echoing out from it and he knew that he'd been injured somehow. The details were still fuzzy.

He managed to swallow back a groan when he first came too, but inwardly he was whimpering. It took a moment more before Alex realized that he was moving and a quick glance through half-lidded eyes told him what he already suspected; he was in the back of a van with Liz lying next to him.

He took another glance to make sure they were alone in the back before Alex began moving slowly over to his friend. His entire body protested every movement, but his concern wouldn't let him quit before he'd made sure that Liz wasn't seriously harmed or worse.

"Liz?" He whispered, reaching a shaking hand out to touch her neck, searching for a pulse. Before his hand connected with her skin, Liz gave a quiet moan.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief, ignoring the pain his movement caused him and tried bringing Liz back to consciousness. Only, as he looked closer, Alex noticed that her eyes were moving rapidly behind closed lids, she was frowning deeply and her skin was bathed in sweat.

She's obviously in agony; Alex surmised silently and gently stroked her sweat matted hair away from her face. I wonder what happened after I lost consciousness. Judging from the way she's looking right now, it can't have been good.

Alex didn't get a chance to ponder for long, he'd only just stopped trying to wake Liz up when the vehicle suddenly came to an abrupt stop and the unseen driver exited the van.

Alex's heart was beating fast and he immediately tried to multiply his feelings of fear and confusion in a hope that it'd manage to incapacitate the person about to open the doors, but to his horror, Alex's powers seemed completely drained after waking up and if he'd had time he'd have cursed violently.

"Shit," was the only thing he managed to hiss before the doors to the van slammed open and he locked eyes with the old looking alien, Kent that oddly enough seemed to have lost a part of his arm since he'd last seen him.

If he's that injured, Alex thought frantically, why the hell isn't he dead yet? What's he planning?

In the blink of an eye, Kent mimicked Alex's earlier curse and somehow managed to jump to Liz's side and hold out his remaining hand to her face wearing a twisted smile. "Don't try any of that funny crap on me again, human or I'm gonna end this little bitch right now."

Alex's insides froze in fear, but he kept an impassive face, eager to keep up the illusion that his powers were still very much available and that it was only the threat on Liz's life that kept him from using them, not his exhaustion.

"What did you do to her?" he asked instead, slowly holding up his hands to show his willingness to cooperate.

Kent's twisted smile turned downright sinister and had Alex been a lesser man, he couldn't have repressed the shiver that ran though spine at the sight. He simply swallowed a lump of dread when the alien finally replied.

"I was interrupted last time we were busy having fun together and I didn't get a chance to end my little connection with her."

"What? She's been in pain ever since I blacked out?" Alex was horrified, no wonder Liz seemed to be uncomfortable; Kent was basically still torturing her! "Stop it right now!"

"You better be more respectful to me, Boy," Kent warned, his hand hovering over Liz's face mockingly, "I can make her feel like this forever if I want to."

Once more, Alex froze mid-movement, hating his vulnerability like never before. "Just stop hurting her, please," he begged quietly and added a "Sir," for good measures.

Kent smirked and placed his hand on Liz's damp forehead in an almost tender way that made Alex want to shove the male away from her in disgust. A moment later, Liz's furrowed brow smoothed and she looked, if not peaceful then at least a little more relaxed.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief, only to gasp in shock when Kent wrapped his arm around Liz and unceremoniously began dragging her out of the van. Alex scrambled to follow suit, and had to fight back the urge to vomit as wave after wave of nauseating dizziness swept over him at the quick movements.

"Wait, what do you think you're doing?"

"Shut up and get out here, human," the alien growled, obviously now in pain himself after the hardship of carrying a still non responsive Liz outside.

Following the order to the best of his limited ability, Alex eventually got out of the van and saw, to his shock, that they were in the middle of nowhere. They'd been taken to the desert and the moon and the twinkling stars shining down on them were the only light nearby.

"W-what are we doing here?" Alex was beginning to get a bad feeling about this, his worries for Liz and her pain taking a backseat to the more immediate threat.

Kent chuckled darkly, kicking Liz over to a mound of sand. "Damn, I can't wait till your mouth stops speaking, Boy. I thought I'd done a nice enough thing to the girl there, now she won't be in pain anymore."

"What?"

"Oh shut up and get down here before I kill her right now." Kent looked menacing and all Alex could do was follow orders, trying to push past the soreness so he could try and think up a plan to save them. "I'll tell you a secret, though," the alien continued kicking Liz again so she rolled past the sand and disappeared into what Alex only now discovered to be a hole, "I hate killing small fish like you people. Your entire race is a disgrace. I have no idea what the hell it was you did to me earlier, but I'm still stronger than you and it gets boring to end your race's miserable lives all the time… Now, come here."

"You may be stronger, but I'm way smarter and I'm not gonna let you kill me without fighting back," Alex growled angrily as he struggled to grasp the small sparks of his power, "I'm not letting you kill us like animals."

"But that's exactly what you are," Kent exclaimed and bent down in a crouch with his arm reaching down into the hole towards Liz and Alex finally managed to get his fear multiplied and sent out towards the alien, but to his despair it fizzled out halfway there and did no good what so ever.

"Please…" Alex felt like crying, he was barely seventeen years old for Christ's sake and his life was only beginning.

"Don't beg, it's pathetic," Kent mocked, "I was ordered to kill you ants in secret so the former Queen Ava or Tess or whatever she wants to be called these days would cooperate with my superior. So even though that bitch took my arm, she can't be too upset about losing you weaklings… You know what, thinking about how much it will hurt her once Nicholas is done with her, I take it all back; I can't wait to end your miserable excuse of a life. Now get ready, Human!"

Unable to think of anything, spent as he was after his last desperate attempt at saving Liz and himself, Alex stayed on his knees where he'd fallen earlier without resisting. Isabel, I'm sorry, Alex thought with all his might, praying that she'd hear him and feel him before things ended for him. I'm so sorry.

Kent made his way over to him and Alex tried using one of those techniques that Liz had once taught him to close off his end of the connection with Isabel. I can't let her feel me die, he thought, especiallysince she already saw me die once before…

Alex closed his eyes, but they quickly snapped open again when a rumbling sound in the distance interrupted his artificial calm. Kent too was distracted, turning halfway around to look at something that honestly surprised Alex more than anything else.

It was a car hurtling over the ground at maximum speed and before Alex could do much more than gape unintelligently at the approaching vehicle, it slammed violently into Kent, sending the alien flying with a scream of agony.

The lights blinded Alex, so he could only make out a blurry shape exiting the car with a hurried jump. The voice told him who it was as the figure hysterically asked, "Did I get that fucker? Tell me I got him!"

"Maria?" Alex breathed out his friend's name and as the blurry figure came closer, he recognized her completely and decided to do what he'd wanted to ever since waking up. He blacked out again.

0o0o0

When he came to, Alex found himself lying on the ground with Maria crouched over him and slapping his cheek over and over again.

"Urh," Alex's groaned pathetically, upping his vocal displeasure to, "Aw, Maria, stop helping me!"

Her small hand stopped a few centimeters away from his now stinging cheeks and her eyes looked scared and just as confused as he felt. "Oh thank God, you're awake," she exclaimed after a short pause, "I think I actually killed that other guy; I can't carry Liz out of that hole over there, Tess went with that creepy kid all alone, Michael seems so tired and… and my mom's car is completely ruined on the front – there's no way she'll let me borrow it after this, I guarantee it."

"Way to prioritize," Alex muttered, slowly sitting up. He expertly ignored Maria's gasp of outrage at his quip and added tiredly, "we need to get Liz out of that hole and make sure that guy is subdued before we do anything."

"Despite the fact that you obviously don't think I'm a capable human being," Maria's tone was dark and Alex felt the wispy echo of her annoyance and hurt through the limited powers he had available even after his brief fainting spell, "but I already tied him up with some of the rope that was in the trunk and he didn't even flinch when I touched that yucky nonexistent arm of his, and I did that before I even tried pulling Liz out myself."

Sighing, Alex placed a hand on Maria's shoulder, guilty over having hurt her feelings. He knew that she put up a front with most people when in reality she really was quite vulnerable to any type of criticism from her loved ones. "Sorry, Maria," he murmured and squeezed softly.

Maria didn't move for a second, but then she relaxed her tense stance and Alex didn't even need his powers to know that he'd been forgiven. "So, let's get Liz," he changed the subject and gratefully accepted Maria's assistance at getting back on his feet. His dizziness was still present, so even with her help his movements were rather wobbly before he found his footing and made his way over to the hole Liz was lying unconsciously in.

Liz's slender frame was completely still and if he hadn't already known her to be alive, Alex would've thought she was dead. At least I got the torture to stop; Alex comforted himself and carefully began crawling down to his friend.

It took almost twenty minutes to get Liz into the Jetta's backseat. When he looked back on it, Alex honestly had no clue how they managed it given his wounded condition and Liz's complete lack of assistance.

Making sure she was as comfortable as possible, Alex then gestured for Maria to follow him back to his would-be killer to see if he was still alive. When they got to him, his quiet moans told their own story and out of the corner of his eye, Alex saw Maria give a sigh of relief.

"Don't be so pathetic," Alex ordered, purposely mimicking the alien's earlier words, "I'm gonna ask you some questions and if you wanna live, I suggest you answer them."

"I'm not gonna live long if Nicholas finds out I've betrayed him," Kent sneered, his face grimacing at his pain.

Maria leaned over Alex's shoulder, only able to do because he was hunched over, "Well, you're not gonna survive one more meet and greet with my car, you know. So talk."

Alex cringed, hoping that the other Skin wasn't about to call her rather obvious bluff. Fortunately, Kent seemed distracted enough by his pain not to take in the pretty unconvincing look on Maria's pale face.

"I don't know anything—"

"Then what was with all the boasting earlier?" Alex interrupted coldly.

"Nicholas needs the Granolith and Av-Tess knows where it is, she seemed real eager to reveal everything once you were out of her sight."

Alex glanced over at Maria, who frowned and took over the interrogation. "Tess wouldn't do that unless it was worth something to her. What did you promise her?"

Knowing the answer, Alex replied before Kent could say something that would undoubtedly end with Maria restarting the Jetta in fury. "She was promised that Liz and I got help, he told me that before you got here. So she thinks she's saving our lives."

At least this time she's not some power hungry murderer that ruins my brain, Alex thought with real gratitude. If nothing else, at least Isabel and the others saved Tess' soul this time around.

The whole concept of time traveling and the alterations to his current timeline still freaked the usually very logical teenager out, but he could see the benefits at long last. Like the ones that mean we're all still alive of course, he added with an internal grin.

"So you're saying that Tess is all alone out there and thinks she's sacrificing herself for you?" Maria clarified and Alex nodded, waiting for the inevitable blowup. He didn't have to wait long. "Well, what the hell are we waiting for? We've got to save her."

A dark, hoarse chuckle interrupted them and they both looked down on Kent, his mouth twisted into a bizarre smile with bubbles of blood oozing down his chin, "Like your feeble race can even come close to our leader and Nicholas. They will never…" his voice ended in a coughing gurgle that sent a wave of pained nausea over Alex, telling him that at long last his gift was slowly returning.

"Yeah, well," Alex stood up with his eyes locked on the quickly deteriorating Skin, "we got you, didn't we? Humans or not. Come on, Maria, let's—"

Suddenly, there was a sound from the distance that Alex immediately recognized. Turning around he could already see the headlights from another car fast approaching. The question is, he thought warily, is it someone that's with us or against us?

Maria seemed to have gotten the same idea, she hurried over to the Jetta and tried starting the car just in case they needed to escape, but before the car came to life the other vehicle was close enough for Alex to sense Isabel's presence as if she was shouting out to him.

"It's the good guys," he told Maria, who immediately slumped forward over the steering wheel with relief before hurrying back over to his side, muttering something about finally seeing what had happened to Michael.

Kent gasped hoarsely for breath behind them, but no one took much notice seeing as their attention was trained on the familiar sight of the Jeep coming to a rough halt a few feet away. Mere seconds later, Isabel was out the door, meeting Maria halfway, who was on route to the just now appearing Michael. The next thing Alex knew, he had a six foot hybrid in his arms, squeezing the life out of him.

"You're okay, thank God," Isabel muttered repeatedly into his ear and under normal circumstances, Alex would more than likely have loved the closeness, but as it was, his head was throbbing and his recurring bouts of nausea finally got the best of him and he wrenched himself away from the embrace and threw up right next to them.

"Alex!" Isabel gasped his name and held a cool hand to his burning forehead, her touch filled him with relief even as her chaotic emotions of worry, guilt and love flew into him; it would seem that his slowly returning powers always worked at full capacity whenever it was Isabel near him.

Feeling a little bit more like himself, Alex carefully straightened back up. He sheepishly wiped his mouth with his sleeve, wishing he had a cool glass of water in his hands to cleanse his mouth. Alex was so caught up in the innocent desire to not have major bad breath near his sort of girlfriend, that he almost missed said female turn to an eerily still Max and ask if he'd heal his head wound.

"No, I'm fine," Alex protested and stepped back. He was instinctively afraid of the healing power that had somehow given him his abilities and given from the slight slump in Isabel's shoulders, she knew it and he felt guilty and wanted to make her smile.

"Maybe after we've dealt with that guy, okay?"

As he'd hoped, Isabel's beautiful face lit up into a smile that seemed to wipe her exhaustion off her face and Max nodded once, still completely silent.

Maria stood with Michael over by the Jeep, her arms around his waist and to his surprise, Alex saw them kiss as if their lives depended on it. Kyle stood next to them with a vaguely nauseated expression on his face, seemingly praying for the ground to swallow him whole to escape the sight, but unable to actually turn his head and look away.

It was the quick approach of yet another car that interrupted the couple and drew everyone's attention back to the present situation. The car stopped and a moment later, a pretty, young woman stepped out in a graceful motion that would look staged on anyone else.

Who's that? Alex wondered, eying the blonde with narrowed eyes. He grabbed Isabel's hand and her touch got his powers to flare to life and he instantly sent out feelers to see if the unknown girl was an enemy or friend. Before his probing powers reached her, Isabel spoke and cleared the issue on her own.

"That's Courtney; she's a Skin too, but a good one that wants to help us."

"What? If she's one of them, she's obviously just playing you," Maria yelled, finally wrenching her lips away from a seemingly rather rejuvenated Michael's, "You can't trust them, they're insane!"

Alex looked over at Isabel with a raised eyebrow, silently agreeing with his friend. Isabel sighed and quietly muttered, "We know we can trust her, okay?"

Ah, Alex thought tiredly, she's someone they knew in that other life and are willing to trust now… I wonder what she did to earn their trust…

The Skin, Courtney walked over to them, sending a brief glare at a confused looking Maria that made Alex wonder just how much trust they should give the female. When her eyes met his, Alex felt a little calmer, she looked gentler somehow than Kent and Nicholas and his senses told him that aside from some irrational emotions at the sight of Maria in Michael's arms that Alex frankly didn't understand, she was genuinely willing to help and hoping to stop her kind from ruining their lives.

"Hi." Was all she said and Alex waved awkwardly in return before turning to Max, who stood immobile and seemingly emotionless. Despite appearances though, Alex could sense that the time traveler was itching to go to Liz's unconscious form in Maria's car.

Deciding to help the other guy out, Alex gestured towards the car, "she's been unconscious since we got here, and I got the Skin to stop torturing her so—"

"Torturing her?" To say Max's tone was cold was a pretty huge understatement, but Alex soldiered on, knowing that the anger wasn't directed at him personally.

"Maria ran him over and tied him up, he's over there." Pointing behind him, Alex fell silent at the suddenly oppressing power surge coming from Max.

Alex let go of Isabel, in an attempt of minimizing his own powers, but it seemed like them touching had somehow refueled his reserves and he could feel Max's pure, raw anger directed at the downed Skin.

Fortunately for Alex's peace of mind and sanity, Max managed to reign in his feelings and then began making his way to the wounded enemy moaning more and more weakly on the cold ground.

What happened next was forever branded into Alex's memory; his being cried out in equal parts shock and fear. Max simply bent down and began searching the other man's back for something.

Kent tried fighting back, but his tied up status and wounds didn't allow him much resistance, evidently, unlike Alex, he knew just what was about to happen. Alex watched in growing horror as Max's face transformed into a deathly mask that didn't suit him and simply said, "Go to hell," before he did…something that simply disintegrated Kent into a million pieces of dust that quickly blew away in the gentle night wind.

Without showing the slightest bit of remorse over his kill, and Alex could feel nothing but a grim satisfaction brimming from the dark-haired hybrid, Max quickly made his way over to the Jetta and climbed in to Liz's side where his emotions suddenly proceeded to burst through him at such an accelerated rate, that Alex flinched and took a few steps back.

"What's wrong?" Isabel was immediately next to him, crowding him and all of the sudden it was just too much for the usually calm teenager to handle. In the span of nearly no time at all, he'd found out his girlfriend was from a very bleak future, had almost killed her by accident, been chased by two crazy aliens, been hurt and scared, he'd almost been killed himself and now this, coupled with his returned powers of empathy, it was just too much!

"Everybody stop, just stop feeling!" Alex roared and pulled his own hair to relieve some of the tension rising in him. "I can't take it anymore!"

Bitter anger so powerful he could almost taste it on his tongue burned inside him, battling it out with fear and confusion and an all consuming need for peace. In the distance, Alex heard Maria trying to calm him even as Isabel called for Max's help. The last thing he sensed, just before he felt like he was about to literally explode, was two hands and Max's presence and then everything turned blissfully dark once again.

Nicholas' POV

It's hard to believe that the sniveling Ava blew Kent's arm off like that, Nicholas thought to himself with a hint of amusement. To be honest, he'd never really liked the man and seeing the arm blown off his body as if it was made of glass had satisfied some deep urge Nicholas hadn't known was in him.

He glanced over at the stony looking Antarian, who kept insisting on using 'Tess' as her new name. She's definitely changed, he thought cautiously, before she would have waited for her husband before making any kind of major decision like this. Gotta love that human independence.

The mockery was clear even in his head, and Nicholas quickly wiped off the sneer of disgust for the human race before turning his head towards Tess.

"I really don't know why you're being so cold, Tess," he said, trying to put as much politeness into his tone as possible, "I've done what you asked in regards to those friends of yours. Kent will call me the minute they're in the E.R. so wipe that frown off that pretty face, why don't you?"

Tess' left eye twitched and her lips thinned for a moment. "If you think I'm happy about betraying my friends, you're more insane than I thought. I promised to take you to the Granolith, I didn't sign on to be your new playmate, kid."

"I'm not a kid," Nicholas practically growled, still extremely sensitive about his apparent youth even after nearly fifty years. He wanted nothing more than to escape the body he'd been given and return to his own or at the very least, a body that could go into a store and didn't have to get his underlings to buy age restricted items.

"Okay, keep your pants on," Tess taunted, once again showing the Skin her transformation from the weaker Ava from his memories.

"That's it," Nicholas whipped out his cell phone, for once not taking the time to miss his planet's much more advanced technology in his eagerness to wipe that smirk off Tess' face, "I'm calling Kent to stop him from getting help for your friends."

Petty? Yes, but his pride had been hurt and he could not stand for that – it reminded him of how Khivar treated him and he hated feeling mocked.

"No, wait!" Tess immediately froze and added insistently, "I'm sorry; I'm just not used to having friends to betray and it's hurting me… Please don't call Kent, Liz and Alex need help. I'll stop talking, I promise."

"Now was that so hard?" Nicholas didn't put away his phone and thoroughly enjoyed the panicked look in the girl's eyes as he pressed his speed dial and held the phone up to his ear.

"Are you on your way?" He asked, before the person answering even said a word.

"We'll be there in a few minutes, Sir." A female woman said and continued seriously, "We've tried contacting those in town, but no one is answering. Should we send a few of us back to check on the others?"

Nicholas rubbed his chin, absentmindedly wishing for a full beard that he'd always wanted, and answered, "No, there's no time. They're probably enjoying themselves a bit too much with the hostages. I'll handle them when we get back. For now, just come pick us up, so we can call Caden and his men to meet us at the Granolith."

"Understood, Sir," the woman replied and hung up.

Nicholas smiled at the wary look on Tess' face and waited patiently for a few minutes until four big black cars pulled up next to them. He turned to Tess and opened the door of the closest car, "After you, Your Majesty."

Tess' eyes looked like he'd just offered her a swim in a tank full of sharks. Which, Nicholas smiled widely as he quickly followed the hybrid, isn't really that far off, when I think about it.

A moment later, Tess was giving directions to the driver and they took off towards the Granolith that Nicholas and his kind had looked for as long as they'd been on this retched planet.

Finally, he thought, leaning back in his seat and visualizing Khivar's pleasure and rewards for his services, the Royal Pains will be gone for good and we can go home to a world where people respect me as the fierce warrior that I am.

As Nicholas contemplated his coming triumph he almost missed the way Tess was looking at them with a very calculating look in her eyes, the proof that she may be beaten, but was in no way giving up the fight. When he did spot it, however, the Skin merely smiled arrogantly. On her own, she's weak and there's only Vilandra left to fight us and she's always been more interested in playing in the sheets than fighting so this is gonna be easy.

Not even Zan and Rath can escape my town unscathed, but I'm not telling her that until Vilandra finds us. It'll be good to see the looks on their faces when they realize that the Royal Four is no more.

Nicholas sighed with satisfaction and then concentrated on his upcoming phone call with one of the few men that he actually feared. Caden, Khivar's second in command, had been sent to Earth only a few months ago when they finally developed the perfect vessel for the powerful alien.

At least, after tonight, Nicholas thought with an anxious feeling, he won't be Khivar's second anymore, because I'm gonna be the one that will always be remembered as the true killer of the Royal Four…

TBC…


	31. Michael, Kyle, Alex and Isabel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last Time on TATT: The Timetravellers + Courtney arrive to help Alex and Maria with the Skin, Kent, who Maria already injured. Max doles out some vengeance, shocking the humans. Nicholas suffers from delusions of grandeur because he's got Tess and is still unaware that Michael and Kyle have escaped the Skin infested town. He still thinks Kyle is Zan. When we last saw everyone, Alex could no longer handle all of the tumult emotions and fainted. I think that's all of it, let's continue the fun, shall we?

Michael's POV

They all stood still, holding their breath when Alex's power snuffed out and he went to the ground. It was eerie how the memory of the night he'd died in the original timeline kept playing on Michael's mind. Maybe it's the defeated look in Max's eyes? He pondered, tightening his hold on Maria's trembling form when the other hybrid crouched next to the unconscious human.

Or just the fact that the shit storm keeps on coming and we can't seem to stop any of it, he amended bitterly as he silently watched Max's now glowing hands dart over Alex's body to assess his current state.

"He's got a nasty head wound," Max finally said after what felt like forever. Another few moments of glowing hands and the wound vanished as if it had never been there – if one discounted the trail of dried blood all over the teenager's face and neck.

It didn't take long after the healing before Alex began to stir and the moment he did, Michael noticed Max all but run to Liz's side out of the corner of his eye. Evidently he couldn't keep himself away from her any longer, but Michael didn't blame him.

If it'd been Maria, I wouldn't have been able to keep it together for half the time he did, Michael thought and waited until Isabel had calmed down the guilty and embarrassed looking Alex enough for him to actually process things properly.

"So," Michael tried to step away from Maria, forcing away the part of him that just wanted to keep hold of her and hoping the bad things would avoid them for all eternity, but she didn't seem the least bit willing to cooperate as her grip only got firmer. "We need to think of a plan."

Courtney nodded in fervent agreement and Michael had to swallow back a mixture of sadness over her original destiny and pure annoyance since his much older self now clearly saw the blatant hero worship in her eyes. I can't believe I missed out on that the first time, he chided himself as he took a step closer to the others with Maria still practically glued to his side.

Kyle spoke up; momentarily distracting Michael from remembering the first time he'd gotten to know Courtney and her beliefs that had planted a seed of wanting the King's power all to himself that he hadn't really recognized until the time when Max had died from the hands of a homicidal rich old guy and his younger wife.

"First of all we need to get to the Granolith before the Skins do. Nicholas is bound to get there soon with Tess' help."

"Tess isn't helping him," Alex murmured and everyone's attention went back to him. Michael frowned a little when he recognized the flash of pure hope that came into Kyle's eyes before he gained control of his expression.

"Yeah," surprisingly, it was Maria, who spoke up next. "It's totally not her doing. That evil teenager with way to many issues, if you ask me, forced her hand. I heard him threaten Liz and Alex's lives before she would even consider not killing him. I was too freaked out to really understand any of it until Alex filled in the blanks for me. She only agreed to help him so Alex and Liz could get medical help."

"Yeah, but I guess he told his henchman to kill us anyway." Alex's voice was hoarse and Michael caught his eyes darting over to Max, still sitting in the Jetta with Liz. "But he's the one who ended up dying…"

Obviously, he's a little spookedat seeing the darker side of Max, Michael surmised as he too looked over at a silent Max. The former king was caressing Liz's unconscious form ever so gently; as if afraid his touch would hurt her even more. Not that I blame him really. In this life, he's still pretty innocent so any violence is bound to shock the hell out of his principles and beliefs.

"He deserved it, trust me." Courtney's voice was without any infliction and Michael knew there was an untold story there just waiting to be shared, but frankly they didn't have the time, so he took over the conversation.

"Forget about that now. We need to get a plan together before it all ends up with us dead and with no Granolith."

Kyle nodded, seemingly very eager to plan now that his tentative faith in Tess had been restored somewhat and spoke up. "We'll pile up in the cars and drive there as fast as we can, surround the rock in strategic places and take on Nicholas and his people and get Tess away from him."

"Uhm, excuse me," Maria held up a hand, "as the only conscious human who doesn't have powers, I kinda want to veto that plan – No offence, Valenti."

A rush of melancholy surprised Michael by its strength as he looked down at the woman he loved. Trust me, Baby; you do not want powers…

Maria frowned and when she spoke, Michael felt his insides twist together in nauseating fear. "Why wouldn't I want powers, Michael? I'm the weak link here, remember? If I don't get some magic Czechoslovakian mojo soon, I'm gonna be the first one they go after, mark my words."

Michael stood frozen, as Maria's obvious fear took her over and she dove into her jeans pocket and withdrew a small bottle of cedar oil that he guessed from experience was probably laced with something calming that her mom had made.

A muttered 'oh', came from Isabel and Michael managed to look over at her. Apparently she too had noticed the little moment and the fact that Maria had answered something that his mouth hadn't said. Within moments, the former Antarian princess had made her way over to him and placed her finger on his hand as discreetly as possible.

'She can hear you, Michael.'

Maria rolled her eyes and looked over at them, her bottle still firmly in hand. "Of course I can hear him, Isabel. I'm weak, not deaf."

Holy- Michael barely managed to restrain himself, even inside his own mind and tried adopting a calm expression that he kinda knew was failing miserably even without the puzzled look Maria sent his way.

He quickly thought back to the many powers they'd all discovered and built upon in the original timeline. That's right, Michael thought, wanting to kick himself for forgetting, I forgot that the bonded couples could communicate telepathically without touch…but that doesn't explain how Maria could hear Isabel's thoughts to me.

Isabel looked just as confused as he did, and Kyle's face indicated that he was beginning to realize what was going on even as Courtney kept talking about possible battle plans and Max kept on ignoring everything in favor of the woman in his arms.

She was always the strongest one when it came to that kind of communication, Michael remembered as flashes of the past came to him in vivid clarity that under normal circumstances would've gotten him ready to either stand guard outside Maria's house in case of unforeseen troubles or get him to locate Max for an intense sparring session. I can't believe we forgot about that…

"What's going on?" Maria stepped closer to Michael, eying Isabel's expression with a dubious and slightly nervous one of her own. "You're looking weird, I don't like weird, you know."

"Uh…"

"Don't you 'uh' me, Michael Guerin! I hate secrets and frankly it's too scary right now with all the other stuff that's going on." Her eyes looked up at him imploringly, silently begging for the truth and Michael found that he was just too weary to keep going with all the lies and decided to give at least a little bit of his knowledge to her.

"Apparently, since we've… bonded, you've gained one power…sort of."

"What kind of power?" Maria looked intrigued and Michael silently wished that for once she wasn't so obsessed with gaining powers. He'd lived through one life where she'd been 'gifted' with one like the other humans and unlike them;, hers had been a true nightmare that had ended up slowly killing her from the inside out.

Forcibly shoving those heartbreaking memories back to the deepest corners of his mind, Michael focused on the present and answered. "We can communicate telepathically from varying distances. Me, Iz, Tess and Max have to touch if we want to talk to each other in secret. I'm pretty sure that Alex and Liz can do it with their bonded too."

Alex blinked and straightened up a bit, realization slowly dawning on his tired face. "Oh, I've tried that too…I think. I've been hearing Isabel's voice in my head on and off, but I thought it was just 'cause of my powers that I could sense her so clearly. At least, I'm not the only one this time around." He gave a small self-deprecating grin and looked over at Maria, as if happy that he wasn't too big of a freak of nature now.

"Oh, so it's not some special just-for-me kinda thing?" Michael wanted to shake Maria until she understood that the power that she was itching to gain was going to destroy the last bit of her innocence. Having already been healed by Max, Michael was realistic enough to know that Maria would get her wish sooner rather than later. Her horrifying ability to read and project a person's worst fear into them, watching them slowly dying, a silent bystander in whatever fabricated nightmare was being made at the time was already on its way.

But I still pray every day that her powers don't come back as quickly as Alex's did – She's not strong enough for it, but I couldn't possibly convince her of that…

Using every ounce of patience he had left, Michael merely ran a hand through his hair and shrugged Maria's question away. "You're gonna get a crash course in our mind-voodoo now, so pay attention 'cause I think I've got the start of an idea for helping Tess and ending this nightmare once and for all."

Kyle's POV

There was complete silence in the car as he drove toward the pod chamber and Kyle was sure that it was the same way in the other two cars.

Isabel was sitting next to him, shooting glances in the rear view mirror at a drowsy Alex who was lying down in the backseat.

For Kyle, the tension was palpable, reminding him of all the times they'd gone to war in their last life. His fingers were white as they clenched the steering-wheel with more force than he knew what to do with.

While deceptively calm on the outside, Kyle's head was still spinning from all the different things that had happened since…well, since he'd returned from death through time and space or whatever it was, but mostly he kept thinking about Tess. His stomach clenched with anxiety, an emotion he'd felt her experience all evening he had felt a crushing disappointment when they had thought that Tess had betrayed them.

The relief that had poured through him when Alex and Maria had firmly debunked that idea was enough to make his legs quiver, and his hands had still been shaky when he'd gotten in the car to follow the Jetta. It was still quite confusing for him to suddenly have this protective instinct when it came to the girl he'd once wanted dead more than anything for betraying not only the group, but him in particular.

Another jolt of uncomfortable secondhand fear and pure hate suddenly rushed through him, and Kyle managed to send as much comfort through to his unexpected bonded before forcing himself to think about the plan they'd agreed on to help save not only the curly-haired hybrid, but the Granolith as well.

The notion of Maria being able to hear Michael's thoughts directed at her without any deeper training, like had been needed in their past lives, had spurred the idea of using the dramatic girl in the actual plan itself. It clearly hadn't been something Michael had enjoyed thinking up, let alone saying out loud, given the look of self-loathing on his face as he'd detailed what and how he wanted Maria to act once everything got going.

The churning inside of him grew downright painful for a second, distracting Kyle from his self- appointed attempt at going over the plan step by step. Kyle's body was still extremely sore from the treatment he'd gotten in the Skin infested town mere hours earlier, so the automatic tensing of his muscles that he couldn't stop whenever Tess' feelings erupted within him wasn't exactly making things less painful.

Okay, Kyle grit his teeth and added a little speed to the car when Maria's car started moving faster, hopefully we arrive at the pod chamber before Nicholas and his cronies, leaving us a little time to set everythingup…

Maria was going to climb as high as she could on the rocky exterior so she was able oversee everything that was taking place on the ground. Alex was to go with her to scope out the emotions of everyone, once things got going.

Isabel, being the best at these kinds of things, would camouflage the two humans to blend in perfectly with the surface before disappearing inside the podchamber and further in to the Granolith's hidden location, ready to protect the thing by destroying it if nothing else could be done.

Kyle's part was to stand next to Courtney, head bowed and projecting as much submission and defeat as he possibly could manage, with Michael next to him – both of them keeping the charade of being Max and Michael. Courtney would then spin a tale of having taken them both along because they'd managed to kill some of the other Skins keeping them captive, thus wanting to deliver them to Nicholas for one last punishment.

If the young looking Skin bought the flimsy tale, Kyle had to wait for Michael's touch telepathic message that he'd forwarded from Maria whether or not there were other hostiles around, before he smoked as many of Nicholas' underlings as he could. Michael was gonna provide backup.

And Max… Kyle frowned as he pulled up next to the Jetta not too far from the cave, he's gonna stay in the car guarding Liz.

The former king had blatantly refused to leave the unconscious girl's side. It would seem that seeing Liz so vulnerable and fragile had somehow spurred an instinctive, almost animalistic protective side to Max. The usually levelheaded leader seemed incapable of assisting with the plan and despite the big hurdle it was gonna be without Max's larger powers and shielding abilities, Kyle kind of understood his friend's side of things.

Courtney had gained eternal disgust from most of them when she'd turned to Michael, proudly proclaiming yet another proof that Max wasn't suitable for leadership and the general was. Maria had growled, and Michael had rolled his eyes and clearly stated that suitable of not, Max was still his king and would always be.

I almost forgot her original agenda, Kyle thought as he slowly exited the car and made his way over to a silent Michael, who was watching Maria begin to climb the rock with a look of sadness on his worn down face. She seemed so normal when we drove to Roswell, that I guessI –and the others- forgot that she's always wanted to get Michael on the Antarian throne…

Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle watched as Isabel led a still tired looking Alex over to the rock and gently pushed him in Maria's direction before following herself. A few minutes later, both humans were safely hidden and Kyle could barely spot them even though he knew just where they were.

You've done it again; Kyle smiled a little, his eyes following Isabel on her descent back to the ground. Hard to believe your camouflaging abilities all began with a stupid car makeover so long ago when I was just an idiotic teen. Kyle had to bite back an inappropriate chuckle of all things when he added inwardly, and of course she used to use it on her make-up before that.

The pain of opportunities lost and the undeniable love between Isabel and him came as it always did when Kyle remembered the past, but to his surprise, it felt off – as if it was a phantom pain that was just there as a reminder and not acting like a stake through the heart.

Kyle bit his lip, his hand automatically going to his sternum, where Tess' emotions continuously bled over to him and wondered if maybe allowing the new Tess in his heart was such a bad thing?

"You ready?" Michael's rough voice catapulted Kyle out of his thoughts and he quickly straightened up.

"Yes, let's get this over and done with."

Isabel made her way over to them with a tight look in her eyes. It was as clear as day that she wasn't comfortable leaving Alex in harm's way. "I have a question," she said as soon as she stopped walking. "Do you guys think that we should tell Jim about all of this when it's over?"

"What?" Kyle's heart leapt in his chest and he just stood by as Michael immediately objected.

"We can't. He's not the same man we left behind in the war. He's not," Michael cast a remorseful glance at a silent Kyle before adding, "The sheriff we knew and loved. He's too weak right now to handle it. Let's just not do this right now, Isabel. We've got enough crap to worry about."

"Yeah," Kyle managed, his heart beating normally again at the thought of his now estranged father live a happy, non alien informed life. Even if he missed the man he'd been with every part of his being. "Dad's not gonna take it well. It's not like he's doing his own investigation this time around – and with no Pierce to torture Max, I doubt we'll see him realizing that you guys aren't evil. Or maybe I'm wrong, I don't know, but I don't want my dad involved in any of this. Not this time around."

"Okay," Isabel nodded and surprised him by hugging him firmly. "This time we'll make everything better," she whispered in his ear and Kyle chuckled darkly, but embraced her just as tightly.

"Let's spread out," Michael interrupted the moment and Kyle pulled away feeling a little better.

"None of you idiots better die on me," Kyle said, "I'm gonna kick your asses if you even think about it. Okay?"

Michael and Isabel smiled and nodded. A moment later, the female hybrid turned and left for the podchamber and Kyle followed Michael over to Courtney for some last minute preparations.

0o0o0

It was as if Tess had been let in on their plan, because only about five minutes after everyone had taken their places and gone over the plan one last time, she showed up with Nicholas and his followers.

The dark-tinted windows of the cars didn't expose how many there were inside, but Kyle guessed they were filled to capacity just in case.

Nicholas' teenage figure exited the expensive looking vehicle first, his eyes narrowing instantly when they landed on Courtney and her two supposed hostages. A moment later, Tess followed and although she only reacted visibly with a small widening of her eyes, Kyle felt her terror at seeing them.

She feels like she's gonna pass out any minute now, Kyle thought and took a page from Michael's book and tried to send a specific thought to the curly-haired former queen, not really expecting to be heard.

'Don't worry, Tess,' Kyle put all he had into it, but doubted it worked all that well when Tess merely frowned and shook her head in obvious confusion.

"Well, that was very thoughtful of you." Nicholas' tone was a mixture between smug and condescending and Kyle realized he'd completely missed Courtney's explanation for their presence in his attempt at reaching Tess.

Courtney bowed her head and thanked the Skin that she was supposed to follow unconditionally. Kyle barely forced back a grimace at the subservient way she was acting in time to act defeated when Nicholas' beady eyes landed on him with superior contempt.

"So, this is the great and powerful Zan. Or Max, I guess since you're barely more than a weak human these days."

Kyle avoided the Skin's look, knowing his own eyes would betray him by being full of fire and defiance, which wasn't what he was supposed to have at that moment. Luckily, his avoidance seemed to add certainty to Nicholas' belief that he was the top dog, so to speak.

"I can't believe you, Zannie boy. I mean, I knew you and your precious family were weak even before you got sent to this retched planet, but now you're just pathetic."

Michael fidgeted next to him, and Nicholas' attention went to the only real Antarian in his sight. "And you…Well, I don't even have to look too closely at you, your lack of intelligence is obvious just looking at you, did you know that, Rath? I guess not even the human DNA could dissolve the pure brawny idiocy that was your lot in life when I knew you."

Kyle felt Michael's finger surreptitiously touch his wrist just as he responded to Nicholas' taunts. "I don't even know you, Dude," Michael murmured in a faux tired tone of voice that just dripped of confusion, anger and fear. At the same time, his voice rang through Kyle's mind with a much more firm clarity that gave the human reason to believe that Michael's acting wasn't gonna last long.

'Maria says that Alex has felt seven people in the cars, so that makes nine. Is that too many for you?'

'Just get me a little closer to the cars, so I can suck up some of the electricity from them to get the job done.' Kyle replied, trying to look as defeated as possible, while Nicholas continued his taunts.

Tess must have gotten the fact that we've got something planned, Kyle thought even as Michael tensed next to him, obviously planning to get him closer to the vehicles as asked, she didn't even flinch when that little creep identified me as Max. Hopefully she'll catch on quick enough not to interfere when shit get's going for real…

The touch on his wrist returned and Kyle tensed up, hoping that Nicholas wouldn't see it. 'Just follow my lead.'

Before Kyle could do much of anything, Michael straightened up and barreled into Nicholas much smaller body hard enough to land them both on the rocky ground. Kyle took advantage of the planned distraction long enough to run to the nearest car. The moment his fingers touched the metal, Kyle began sucking all of the energy out of it that he could find. His entire being reveled in the power once again and if he was put on the spot, Kyle could almost admit to having the electricity caress him like a long lost lover, happy to be in his presence again, but fortunately for his dignity, that had never happened.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle managed to keep a track on what was going on around him, and just as he finished sucking up as much energy as he could from the car, Nicholas' men exited the cars with furious scowls on their faces. It was then that Kyle understood that even though it felt like ages to him, the unexpected attack from Michael and subsequent brawl had barely taken seconds, a minute at most.

"Now, Kyle!" Michael ordered, just as he sent off a blast of his own raw power at an approaching Skin, who was set on assisting his teenaged leader. Two others took the place of the quickly disintegrating Skin and Kyle knew that he wouldn't get a better window than this and sent all he could of his energy toward the attacking Skins, trusting that Courtney and Tess could handle themselves if necessary.

He was so caught up in the almost primal joy of releasing his pent up powers that Kyle didn't see the Skin sneaking up on him from behind until Tess' warning came. "Kyle, behind you!"

It happened so fast that Kyle barely comprehended it. He spun around with his arms raised for attack. Tess ran toward him with a fierce expression on her pale face. The Skin slashed at his belly and then pain exploded all around him.

"KYLE!"

Kyle sunk to the ground, feeling a great sense of horrifying déjà-vu as he watched the battle going on without him. Tess was screaming as she mercilessly struck down the Skin that had taken him out and Michael's roar of rage resonated all around them in the dawning light.

As if in a trance, Kyle raised one blood-coated hand to inspect it. The amount of dark-red blood on his fingers and palm probably should've struck more fear in him, but all Kyle worried about was the fact that he couldn't stand up and help anymore. He was feeling numb and he spared a brief grateful thanks to whomever took care of these things that he wasn't in pain this time around.

It hurt like hell last time, Kyle remembered morbidly, falling backwards to look up at the sky where the stars were slowly being driven away by the growing morning sun. I guess Dad's gonna know the truth without me this time. I just hope he handles it well and doesn't blame the guys...Dad…

"Kyle!" Tess' scent hovered over him and Kyle blinked back to the present as much as he was able. "Hang in there, please."

"Tess?" How weird, Kyle thought with a small frown, why was she here? Wasn't she evil? "Are you gonna kill me?"

"What? Kyle, come back to me. KYLE!"

"'Cause that'd suck," he murmured without giving Tess more time to talk. He was feeling more and more sluggish and confused. Images from two lifetimes rushing through him at the same time, "I kinda think I'm already in love with you…I don't wanna hate you again…Where's my dad?"

There were sounds of an ongoing struggle all around him, and Kyle knew he really should stop lying around babbling like a fool, but for the life of him, he couldn't get his limbs to work properly and a part of him was just very focused on talking with Tess and getting his dad there. He wanted his dad so much…but he was dead.

At least I'm gonna join him soon, Kyle decided with a cough that rattled his insides uncomfortably. He had a brief stint of awareness, enough to taste and recognize the coppery blood in his mouth that was trailing down his cheeks whenever he moved his lips. Enough to understand that Tess was still screaming his name next to him with a surprising amount of sorrow and to take in the fact that there was a lot more people around there'd been before he'd been taken out.

Slowly, Kyle focused his gaze past Tess' tear-streaked face and saw a lot of other unfamiliar cars around. Those hadn't been there before, he realized. Other people were fighting and they were way too much for Michael, Tess and Courtney to handle by themselves. Fuck this, he thought, I didn't go out like a wimp last time so I'm not gonna do it this time around either.

With the last bit of his strength, Kyle raised the hand that wasn't being held by Tess and pointed in the direction where most of their enemies were and fired off every last bit of his electrifying power before things turned dark.

Kyle thought he could hear Alex howl with some kind of emotion in the distance, but in that moment, Kyle really didn't give a damn. I'm just happy I went out as awesomely as I did the last time, he thought with a wry twitch of bloodied lips before everything finally turned black and he knew no more.

Alex's POV

Everything seemed to happen so fast. One minute, he was hiding with Maria; his skin still itchy where Isabel had used her powers to conceal him as much as she could. Maria was whispering furious questions to him, trying to get him to use his abilities to scope out their enemies so she could deliver news to Michael down below.

The next minute, there was hideous and furious fighting breaking out and other cars pulled up to join the battle just after Kyle of all people had been taken out. The feelings that Kyle experienced during those moments would forever be branded in Alex's mind, he worried.

Kyle's wounded mindset, Michael's agony, Maria's fear and Tess' sorrow flew into him without him being able to stop it. But, Alex knew from earlier experience that if he just breathed, he could and would slowly get a handle on it.

That was, until a new person arrived below. At first glance, he looked normal, tall and relatively well-built with dark-blond hair that ruffled in the breeze, but Alex didn't really notice his appearance because he was too busy taking in his presence itself. It practically screamed danger and if Alex had believed in auras he'd have said that this man's radiated nothing but darkness.

It quickly became too much – just too much – for Alex's already worn out mind to handle and he let out a howl of fury, fear, sorrow and frustration that commuted into one thing and one thing only; he wanted them all gone! Right now!

"Alex?" Maria's voice was cautious, but he wasn't fooled. She was petrified of the things going on inside of him, and one tiny part of him wanted to ease his best friend's worry, but the rest of him was just so tired of everything and didn't care what kind of tiny, unimportant emotions she was giving off at that moment in time.

He sat up fully, despite the fact that anyone that looked up at him would see him now. Not even Isabel's camouflage was enough to conceal his whereabouts. Maria's small hands grabbed at him and Alex downright snarled at her, watching in detached silence as she flinched roughly enough to jar the unstable rock she was half lying on. It broke off and she tumbled towards the ground with a piercing scream.

It was that shocked sadness tainted with fear Maria projected as she fell to the ground that managed to get through to Alex enough that he leaned forward and tried to grab her. He didn't move fast enough, and the enlarged eyes Maria sent to him even as she fell further and further away froze Alex completely.

His more rational side was screaming at him to do something, anything to save his friend, but he couldn't do anything other than lie there on the edge with his hands outstretched and watch Maria's descent.

Alex was half-aware of the fact that Michael had heard – and more than likely felt – Maria's scream and had tossed Nicholas to the side as if he was a mere ragdoll in an attempt to get to his love in time. Alex could almost taste the lack of hope the time-traveler had, along with the fierce determination to still try saving her despite the low hope. They both knew it was going to be too late and Alex's soft side was whimpering, not able to handle losing another one of his circle of friends.

Suddenly, something changed Maria's destiny. She stopped midair and she screeched even louder as if she couldn't quite believe what was going on. Then she changed tones and started yelling to be put down.

Alex scanned his surroundings with both his eyes and his powers until it all landed on that new arrival, the evil one that even had Nicholas' insides twisting with barely repressed anxiety.

"If I drop her now," the stranger said in a controlled neutral voice that sent shudders down Alex's spine and subsequently everyone else's as well, "she won't die. She might break a bone or two, but that's manageable even with this planet's primitive healing."

Michael's sigh of relief was more mental than physical and Alex took it in gladly, anchoring himself to it before he lost the last bit of his control again. The man spoke again and threatened that control with a mere sentence.

"Then again, I could make her go the other way and let her fall again; seeing one of these Earthlings splattered on the ground would be a nice way to start this day, don't you agree?"

His eyes met Alex's, who instinctively lashed out mentally, only to almost be swallowed by a blackness that drowned out anything else but hate and fear. It was blowing his mind apart, and Alex did his best to hold on to anything that was good and pure – pushing aside his guilt over putting Maria in her current situation, his grief, stolen from Tess, over Kyle and anything else.

Isabel, think of Isabel. Alex ordered himself, knowing that it was more than likely to fail, but then the amazing feel of her lightness and beauty began to cut through the darkness and pour into him.

'Shh, Alex,' her voice was soothing, albeit oddly strangled, and it was enough to force some sort of sense back into the normally sensible teenager. 'Just take a deep breath, please. Relax…'

'What's happening to me?' Alex returned; trying to look past Isabel's walls to see what was going on in the world that wasn't covered in ferocious darkness. 'Why can't I feel anyone else anymore?'

And then, Alex knew what was going on and he doubled his efforts of regaining his control. His powers were pouring out of him in much the same way they'd done in the school when he'd nearly killed Isabel. Several of the Skins were on their knees, a couple even disintegrating as he watched on through Isabel's eyes. The evil man, who he somehow now knew was named, Caden was showing teeth in a soundless growl, his hands clenched in obvious pain.

That didn't matter though, nothing mattered but the fact that Alex's powers hadn't just attacked his enemies, but they were latched onto his friends as well. Michael was lying on top of a moaning Maria, who'd apparently been released from Caden's mental grip. Courtney was standing up still, shaking with a bloody scratch running from her temple to her cheek. Tess was bowled over an unresponsive Kyle, her hands pressing onto his wound tightly even as the rest of her was twitching violently and Isabel…

Alex cringed; Isabel had left the safety of the pod chamber at the first feel of his distress and was lying halfway outside the entrance, her head turned in his direction even as she struggled to breathe. Evidently, her connection to him was causing her great pain, but he couldn't make out any kind of fear of him whatsoever. Just an overwhelming need to keep him safe and stop him from hurting the people he cared about.

'Take…a deep breath…shhh…' Her plea finally pushed Alex over the edge and he stood up and roared out his defiance, pushing back at Caden's oppressive energy, which he'd unknowingly multiplied, and after what felt like eternity, but was probably nothing more than a few moments, Alex broke down the walls and he could breathe peacefully again.

'I'm sorry, Isabel…Please tell them I'm so, so sorry.' Alex managed to send out, carefully sitting down safely, before he allowed himself to once again pass out from overexertion even as he felt someone very powerful draw nearer to them all.

Isabel's POV

Alex's control over his – and everyone else's – emotions slowly began to trickle back after he fell unconscious and Isabel found herself able to breathe again. A part of her took the time to realize that her reaction to Alex's new gift was bigger than the rest of them due to her bond with him. The rest of her was busy cataloguing the seemingly endless new arrivals as they continued exiting the cars all around them.

Her eyes travelled around everywhere, eager to see where she'd be most helpful. She knew their plan had fallen to pieces the minute Caden had shown up. The fear she had at seeing Khivar's second in command in flesh and blood so early in the timeline bubbled beneath her skin, but her experience with that emotion during her lives made her able to still function.

It was the sight of Kyle in the distance with a teary-eyed Tess that nearly made her come undone. Her heart was pounding and her mind faltered at the sight that she'd never wanted to see ever again. Oh God, not again – Don't let it end this way, she prayed, already running to their side in an attempt to help.

She was stopped half-way, however, by a handful of Skins that looked like they'd been through Hell from Alex's treatment and ready to dole out some vengeance of their own. Courtney lay without moving, so Isabel rightly surmised that they'd already started with the betraying Skin.

Without a word, Isabel simply flung out her hands and sent the off biggest energy pulse that she could, instantly killing three of her would-be attackers.

One of the two surviving hostiles managed to punch her hard in the face and Isabel went down, not used to those types of injuries anymore. She stayed down for a long second, dazed and aching. It gave her attacker enough time to kick her in her ribs with crushing force. She gasped and spit out a mouthful of blood at the brutality of it all.

"Stop it, you fool!" Caden's voice rang out in the desert area and Isabel sat up without hindrance, touching her bleeding nose and mouth gingerly even as her side throbbed angrily. "That's Khivar's woman – he wants her back alive so he can deal with her betrayal himself! You can kill the rest of the weaklings yourself; they've got no chance of fighting back now that the King is dead."

"I'm not Vilandra, Caden." Isabel announced hoarsely. She forced everything else out of her mind as she slowly got back up on her feet when she noticed something behind one of the people she hated most. When she briefly looked back at him, Isabel saw a flicker of surprise on the alien's face at her knowledge of his name, but didn't give him time to ask any questions. Instead, she just reached out and killed the last two obstacles in her path to Kyle and Tess with an ease that hopefully portrayed that she was speaking nothing but the truth. "I'm Isabel Evans and I'm not as weak as you think I am. None of us are. Right, Max?"

Isabel looked over Caden's shoulder again at the shadow she'd seen emerge from one of the sandy hilltops. Max didn't respond with words, but the way his eyes literally blazed into Caden as he calmly made his way down the small hill without even firing off one blast of power answered the question for him.

If I can somehow get over to Max and touch him, we could work out a plan, Isabel thought, gradually inching herself closer to her deceptively calm looking brother, whose dark eyes were still burning into Caden with a ferocity that frankly scared the crap out of her when she got a closer look.

Surprisingly, it seemed to have an effect on the bloodthirsty Caden as well, his own eyes unable to look away from the look of death Max had bestowed upon him. For one insane second, Isabel almost felt sorry for Khivar's agent as she recalled the stories she'd heard from an emotionless Max of just how he'd ended his former torturer's life.

Then the images of her brother's abused body when he'd been rescued after a two weeks stay at Caden's hide-out flew into her mind, and any and all thoughts of sympathy evaporated like they'd never even been there and Isabel even gave a soundless growl, causing a few of the nearby Skins to fidget uncomfortably.

A movement to the side alerted Isabel to the fact that Michael was once again back in the land of the living and they shared a brief look that said so many things that she knew that he too had caught a glimpse of Kyle and Tess behind her, and that he was willing to fight fast enough to hopefully be able to prevent his death a second time around.

A wave of agonizing grief tried to drown her fragile calm, but she pushed it to the back of her mind with a ruthless efficiency. We saved Nasedo when he was dead that one time, Isabel tried cheering herself up, conveniently overlooking the fact that Kyle wasn't Antarian for the time being. We can do the same with Kyle…Now focus, Isabel and be ready for whatever happens.

It was Nicholas' voice that brought Isabel back out of her grieving mind and she looked over at the Skin with bared teeth. He's responsible for all of this; if he'd just left us alone we wouldn't have lost—stop it and concentrate! She scolded herself, just as his words finally registered in her head.

"The king is dead, Caden. That boy is a nobody meant to distract you. Forget Khivar's orders about Vilandra and kill her and the idiot General and their humans. We've still got a chance if we find the Duplicate pairs."

"Idiot," Caden growled, never looking away from Max's stare. "There's a reason they're copies; they're weak and our leader cannot abide the weak as you very well know."

"But—"

"Shut up," Caden hissed. "I don't know what moron it was that your guys killed, but it sure as hell wasn't Zan. Look at this guy, Nick. Really look at him."

Nicholas barely moved a muscle, too worried about making sure that neither Michael nor Isabel advanced any further. "Fine. He's not dead yet, so kill him now, already before this all blows up in our faces."

"Kill the humans, you fucking wimp and I'll handle this boy myself, show him just who the real powerhouse here is." Caden straightened up and Isabel held her breath for a second, until Nicholas catapulted into action.

Isabel hadn't expected it, and Michael too judging from the surprise showing clearly on his face, Nicholas didn't go for the obvious target; a nearby and frozen with fear, Maria, who was lying in a half-way fetal position, cradling her right leg that seemed to be in a very unnatural angle from what was visible. No, he was moving exceptionally fast towards the only other person that Isabel had travelled through time for; the man she loved above all else.

"ALEX!" His name left her lips in a hoarse cry that did no good at all to the unconscious male, considering the bond was still completely silent from his end.

Michael didn't say anything, but he was already moving where Isabel was not and his movement jolted her into action, but even when they ran as fast as they could, shooting out energy pulses in a frantic attempt at stopping the Skin long enough to save Alex, they both knew it was futile.

Please, not this – anything but this, please! Isabel pleaded inwardly when yet another blast just narrowly missed the small Skin. I can't live without him too, please – why can't it be me instead, please?

"Please don't kill him!" Isabel screamed pathetically, her eyes burning with unshed tears that were mere seconds away from falling. "Somebody help us!" She cried out, hoping for a miracle that she knew in her heart wasn't going to happen.

And then, impossibly enough it did and the desert suddenly echoed with a pained, gurgling scream that sent a shiver down Isabel's spine at the same time her heart leapt with an almost devastating sense of relief.

TBC…


	32. Liz, Tess, Maria and Liz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trust me!

Liz's POV

She hurt all over, it was choking every pore of her being, only broken by sporadic flashes of memories that weren't –couldn't be – hers. There were voices around her and Liz knew that she should respond; help out that frightened male voice that she vaguely recognized as Alex's.

Except, Liz's mind tried to tell her, it can't be him because he died; Tess killed him and showed barely any remorse. But that's not true, a tiny part of her did its best to force through, Alex is alive and Tess is your friend, she'd never hurt anyone.

Another male voice, quieter than the other voices around her, seemed to speak to Liz and she wanted nothing more to open her eyes as he kept asking her to, warm lips gently caressing her hair from what she could gather in her limited situation.

As time went on, Liz slowly began to realize that she was supposed to wake up – that there was trouble around her and she was always in the midst of the fighting, no exceptions.

Max was skin and bones as he hung fromthe chains, covered in lacerations and blood and his body showed clear signs of his own urine and more, but Liz had never been happier to see her husband –husband? – alive and she felt a rush of adrenaline shoot through her as she made her way to his side and reached out to him with her heart and soul through their bond. It didn't take long to get a reaction. His lovely eyes cracked open at her touch and as soon as their minds connected, Max seemed to crumble and all she felt and heard from her other soul was devastation. Not at his own fate, but the fact that Liz even put herself at risk in the first place.

"First of all we need to get to the Granolith before the Skins do. Nicholas is bound to get there soon with Tess' help."

Tess? Liz's mind was distracted from her horrible memories at the sound of a rough voice. Kyle, she decided – once more confused because he'd been dead for years now and no matter how crazy she was becoming, Liz knew that dead people didn't talk. Kyle's not dead! Her small inner voice practically screamed and Liz would've flinched back from the noise if her body's reactions had been hers to control.

Yes he is, Liz finally managed to practically growl back as memories of impossible things flooded her numbed senses. So am I for that matter. I'm not supposed to be here… No, I died to save Max – You're not dead! – Always to save Max…

"Forget about that now. We need to get a plan together before it all ends up with us dead and with no Granolith."

Tess is alive too? She betrayed us, Liz could feel an all consuming anger begin to twist inside of her and she fought her own body for control so she could help. Immediately her body protested again; that old, almost familiar, pain from a life gone by, mixed in with fresh agony and memories that shouldn't be possible. How is all of this even possible? Liz wondered, unknowingly grimacing in pain as she tried to open her eyes and look around.

"Shh, Liz," Max's soothing voice whispered in her ear, instantly sending calming waves down Liz's tense spine. "I'm here now. I'm so sorry I couldn't stop all of this from happening to you. I just wanted you to be safe…That's the only reason I came back; for you, always you, Liz."

Came back? Wait, Liz's confusion bled away slowly and another old, - yet completely impossible, her rational voice yelled in the background, - memory returned to her, filling in another piece of the puzzle she'd been trying to solve for weeks now.

The cave was dark and empty, but Liz had left behind childish fears of bogeymen long ago; her real life's monsters were a lot worse. Instead, she confidently made her way through a small, inconspicuous hole in the far end of the wall and ended up in the chamber that housed the Granolith.

Liz spared a moment of her search to stare up at the thing that had so much power it still blew her scientific loving mind even after all her years involved with her Czechoslovakians.

Shaking her head, Liz shoved the thoughts away for now and continued the searchfor her wayward husband. Another close fit through another passage and she was crawling out through one of the pods and entering the podchamber where her eyes quickly landed on Max's still form.

He was sitting with his back to her, not moving, but Liz knew that he'd sensed her presence froma slight lessening of thetension in his shoulders. A few seconds later, she sat down next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder with a small sigh of contentment.

"What are you doing up?" His voice was rough and gravelly, but considering that he barely spoke anymore, Liz wasn't surprised in the least. "You need to sleep."

"Pot, meet kettle," Liz joked and straightened up so he had to look down into her eyes, forcibly dragging him away from whatever deep thoughts he was in the middle of. "Maria came looking for you, she said you just walked out of a meeting with Michael earlier. That's not like you. What's wrong, Max?"

Max sighed and gave an abysmal attempt of a smile that both of them knew was just for show. "I'm just tired, Liz. That's all."

Liz bit her lip, a feeling of dread slowly making its way down her spine. Max didn't get tired, he was their rock whenever things got too hard, always ready with a soothing touch and a soft smile, except, now that she thought about it, Liz realized that it'd been a while since his beautiful smile had lit up the room.

"Don't you ever feel likeyou've had enough?" Max interjected through her thoughts and Liz looked up again. "Things are getting worse every day and we've lost so many already and I can't do anything about it. Liz, tell me what to do?"

Liz turned around so that she was facing her troubled husband. "Max, life is hard and with our luck it's probably gonna get a lot harder too, but…we persevere because we have to. Of course I'm tired, I can't tell you thenumber of times I've wanted to use Serena's knowledge to just go back and take a chance to change our lives."

Max frowned, "What are you talking about?"

Liz smiled gently and ran a hand through Max's grey-streaked hair that once scared her so much when she'd first seen 'future Max's' face so long ago. "If it wasn't so dangerous, the Granoliths opportunities are endless. Remember 'Future Max'? Let me tell you something he told me that I haven't shared with you before. Actually it's more along the lines of something that Serena told him."

Max raised a brow and nodded when Liz looked at him for permission to go on and she took a deep breath and told him all about the time travel feature in the Granolith.

In the next second, Liz just knew. The puzzle was finally solved and she wanted to both weep with joy and scream with outrage. They did it, I don't know why I'm back but they did it…Oh my God.

In that moment, Liz noticed that while her attention had been sorting everything out, Max had left her alone. She couldn't feel his warmth or sense his emotions nearby and that gave her the incentive to fight harder to return to the land of the conscious.

"I can't believe you, Zannie boy. I mean, I knew you and your precious family were weak even before you got sent to this retched planet, but now you're just pathetic."

That voice? Nicholas! Liz's younger self's fear of the boy-looking alien still lingered inside of her and her heart began to beat faster and faster, giving her enough power to fight her body. After what felt like forever her left forefinger twitched and then a couple of toes and then, suddenly, Liz's eyes snapped open and she was moving before she even truly realized it.

"Kill the humans, you fucking wimp and I'll handle this boy myself, show him just who the real powerhouse here is."

Liz's insides froze before thawing with wrath that sent spikes of power through her, power that she hadn't felt in a long time; her own special crackling lightning power. She recognized Caden's voice and was about to search him out when another voice screamed out Alex's name and everything in Liz focused on saving the boy she'd called her best friend, until Tess came along and ruined everything.

Not this time, Liz decided, racing faster than should've been possible. This time I will save Alex and everyone else who's in that bitch's way! She ignored that tiny, younger, part of her that tried explaining that Tess wasn't evil, Tess was her friend, because that was just too ludicrous to take in right now along with everything else.

Tess' POV

Horror, sorrow, anger, denial and guilt and bone crushing grief battled inside of Tess from the second she'd watched Kyle sink to the ground with the most devastatingly confused expression on his face.

Everything seemed to happen in a blur after that; her connection with the dying human was struggling to stay working, sending the biggest bursts of energy into him as she could manage. Tess didn't verbally or mentally acknowledge it, but she was more than ready to die with Kyle despite their relationship being barely there.

It didn't matter; all she knew was that she could not live without him. And, more importantly, Tess bared her teeth, they're all gonna die if he does…

A lot of things seemed to happen in a blur as Tess sat at Kyle's side, her hands pressing on his stomach to staunch the blood flow as much as she could. Maria fallen to the ground with a shriek of pain, Isabel fighting and Max arriving all seemed to happen at the same time. Even when Isabel and Michael rushed to save Alex from Nicholas' rash act, Tess still couldn't comprehend everything entirely.

A second later, everything stopped, as the heartbeat that she was so engrossed in listening to through her bond with Kyle stopped.

"No…" Tess moaned, catching a glimpse of someone stopping Nicholas' mad dash out of the corner of her eye. It didn't matter; nothing did if she couldn't get the silent heart beating again. "NO!" Irately, Tess desperately began pounding on Kyle's still chest, "you can't do this to me, come back! Come back to me right now!"

Noises erupted all around her when she felt her control slip out of her fingers and Tess jumped to her feet, eyes not wavering one inch from the quiet –not dead, he wasn't! – boy on the blood-soaked ground.

A feeling unlike anything Tess had ever experienced seemed to slide into her, and she resigned herself to the fact that in a matter of minutes, her life would probably end as well. But not until they're all dead, she thought viciously, practically growling with so much rage and grief it was all but choking her.

One quick movement and Tess had slipped a quickly, alien sharpened rock into the nearest Skin's vulnerable neck, watching dispassionately as the blood sprayed everything – including her – nearby. Another quick jab and victim number two went down with a gurgled scream as she clutched her severed throat with desperation that Tess watched with a frighteningly sense of serenity.

Just as Tess turned to send a killing blast in a third Skin's direction, she saw a flash of sparkling green and everything erupted into pain that rivaled the one in her heart. She fell to the ground right between one of her victims and Kyle, spasms rocked her body and she struggled to locate her attacker.

"Tess!"

The air around her crackled with electricity for an endless moment, until it suddenly vanished, leaving her spent and throbbing all over. Tess grimaced as she looked up to see her attacker, only to freeze in shock as her eyes locked onto Liz's dark brown ones.

The brunette was standing only a few feet away with Nicholas' smaller body caught in her arms as if he was an unruly child to be taken home for punishment. The Skin was pale and bleeding from several scratches on his face, his clothes sent out small puffs of smoke in the morning light that only brought more attention to the multiple burns on his arms.

"L-Liz?" Tess whispered hoarsely, slowly managing to get back on her feet. Her grief momentarily pushed aside by mounting confusion and slight apprehension. The look in the human girl's eyes gave Tess the chills and she ignored the hypocrisy of her thoughts when she compared Liz to a seemingly soulless being.

Then the human she'd considered her best friend spoke, and Tess suddenly didn't know what to say or do.

"You couldn't stop yourself this time either, could you?" Tess followed Liz's sorrow and rage-filled eyes as they landed on the unmoving Kyle and swallowed a lump of dread.

The Skin in Liz's arm seemed to get his second wind and began thrashing around violently and Tess watched in anxious awe as the brunette human seemingly electrocuted him with one quick movement. Nicholas' scream was both a soothing sound and an agony all at once for the curly-haired hybrid.

"LIZ!"

Tess jumped to her feet when the roar of Max's voice seemed to distract Liz and her grip on Nicholas lessened enough for the injured Skin to rip himself out of her arms. Out of the corner of her eye, Tess noticed that Max was standing frozen, hindered by Caden's presence and Michael was by Maria's side while Isabel was with Alex. The only other one free to help was an unknown woman that had stayed near Michael every time Tess had managed to look away from Kyle earlier.

Before she took any time to think further about Liz's behavior, pressing down her initial dread at the human's cold eyes, Tess had sent off a blast that struck Nicholas in his side just as he was reaching out to stab Liz with an unnoticed knife that gleamed in the early sunlight.

The Skin was blasted backwards with another pain-filled scream and Liz sank to her knees. For one desperate short minute, Tess feared that the alien had managed to injure Liz and felt her insides twist together. She couldn't bear the thought of losing another of her circle, but before her fragile mind snapped completely, Liz drew in a shagged breath and stumbled back to her feet.

She looked over at Tess with an unfamiliar look in her eyes, a mixture of confusion, old anger and gratitude battled for dominance until it settled on a neutral stare that once again made Tess' skin crawl.

"Focus on me, you little brat!"

Caden's coarse voice interrupted Tess and she quickly turned to stare at him, only to see his attention focused solely on Max. Evidently, the former king had tried coming to Liz's rescue once again, much to Caden's consternation and his temper finally snapped with terrifying results.

A second later, everything erupted into another bout of pure chaos. Caden sent a pulse of raw energy Max's way and he rolled out of the danger zone and responded in kind with so much speed that Tess knew that he'd had some kind of training in his life.

She didn't have time to think about that though, because unbelievably, in the next moment, Nicholas had appeared again and jumped on to Liz's back, unceremoniously slicing the girl's fragile neck. The blood immediately sprouted from the deathly wound and Tess catapulted herself into movement a fraction of a second faster than the rest of her friends did.

The next thing she knew, Tess was holding on to Nicholas' own neck and was squeezing for all her worth. "Why won't you just die?" she growled through gritted teeth, wanting to pour as much pain and suffering into the deceptively innocent looking Skin as possible.

Liz was now lying on the ground, one hand clutched frantically at her neck, but then Tess vaguely noticed her move toward them with her free hand raised and a second later, her hand reached behind them and Tess knew what was going to happen next.

Judging from the widening of Nicholas' eyes and the pure fear that dawned on his face, he knew too and then he vanished between Tess' fingers as Liz ruined his meat suit and it blew away in the soft wind that was around them.

Feeling a little cheated out of actually ending that miserable, smug worm's life, Tess turned to stare a little dumbfounded at Liz. She was still a little creeped out at the sudden switch that seemed to have taken place in her friend; she'd never seen Liz in that state before.

Of course, the second her eyes landed on Liz, Tess got her sense of self back and was nearly overthrown with fear at the sight in front of her. Liz was now lying crumpled on the ground, blood everywhere and her grip on her injured throat looked to be quickly lessening, but her eyes were glued on Tess with that indecipherable stare with no hints of stopping.

Without a second thought, Tess batted Liz's hand away and took over adding much needed pressure on her gaping wound. If she'd thought too much about it, Tess would probably have thrown up, might even do it later, but at that point in time all she was focused on was getting Liz to survive long enough so that Max could either heal her or they'd get her to a much needed hospital.

"M-Max…" Liz gurgled, face wincing with every syllable.

"He's coming," Tess promised, the lie easily slipping from her lips as tears began running down her face. In the background Caden and Max's fight was still going strong, something she knew that Liz wasn't blind to either, but it looked like the brunette appreciated the lie none the less.

"You're gonna be fine," Tess murmured again and again, screaming in her head for someone to help her save her friend.

She was so intent on not letting Liz's life slip between her fingers that Tess didn't even notice the fighting going on all around her until someone grabbed her arm and tried pulling her from Liz's side. With a ferociousness that felt more primal than anything else, Tess turned her head and savagely bit into her would-be captor's hand, refusing to let go even when her assailant began shaking her tinier frame with all his might.

She was only interested in two things now, only capable of doing two things. Stop the Skin from hurting Liz and save Liz at all costs, not caring whether or not she got hurt herself.

Out of nowhere, the Skin was ripped out of her mouth and Tess watched with wide eyes as Michael unceremoniously snapped the alien's neck and sent something that reminded her of her own blast, yet a hell of a lot more powerful, right through his body until it too disintegrated.

A second later, Michael was on his knees next to her, and staring down at the unbelievable calm looking Liz, who just kept staring up at them as if she wasn't bleeding out in front of them and gasping more and more for air.

"Tess," Michael's tone was more serious than she ever remembered hearing before and for some reason it managed to snap her out of her halfway primal state of mind enough to look at him questioningly. "I'm not exactly the best healer – fuck, I don't think I'm even qualified, but I know a little bit, so I'm gonna try to help Liz and I'd appreciate it if you didn't attack me. All right?"

Taking a deep breath, Tess looked down and met Liz's gaze for a short moment before looking back up at Michael. "Promise me that you'll do what you can? If it feels like you're failing, I'll take over again because she can't die too. I can't lose her …Please."

The tears kept on rolling down her cheeks, and landed on the ground, mixing morbidly with Liz's lifeblood, solidifying, in Tess' exhausted mind that she had to save Liz at all costs.

The air rumbled with the continuing battle between Caden and Max, and Tess spared one brief glance over at the two males. If she hadn't been so ruined inwardly by losing Kyle and struggling to save Liz, Tess may have gawped in awe at the sight. The two men moved like dancers, their movements were as flawless as they were deadly and everything around them, including a few downed Skins, was ruined beyond all repair. The ground was cracked and some dry bushes were burning violently, sending giant masses of smoke up into the air. Only then did Tess notice the smoke filled air all around her, and she realized her throat was raw and it was hard to breathe.

But, it didn't matter and without much thought about what would happen should Max actually lose his fight, Tess turned back to Michael and Liz. They shared a look and then Michael nodded and Tess slowly removed her blood-soaked hands when Michael's own hovered over hers in preparation for whatever he was about to do.

For what felt like forever, but was probably nothing more than a few seconds in reality, nothing seemed to happen and Tess had to fight herself from pushing Michael out of the way and taking over.

Then, to Tess' profound relief, she noticed that Michael's fingers slowly began glowing greenish and not long after that, the flow of blood between his fingers stemmed and Liz began to blink rapidly as though uncomfortable with something and Tess realized it was the wound's closing itself up that irritated her.

"Liz?" The wobbly tone in Michael's voice told Tess that he'd had no real confidence in his own powers, but she didn't feel betrayed. In fact, she had to repress an urge to hug the stuffing out of him with grateful joy.

Liz gestured mutely to his hands around her neck, which he promptly removed with a relieved smile on his face. A scream from Maria instantly took his attention away and the former Antarian General was across the site and next to Maria, who was busy struggling with one of the few remaining Skins.

Tess prepared to help, but with an ease that frankly frightened her, Michael's big hands had ended the attacker's life and she looked over at Liz instead. The brunette seemed a little dazed, a result of the blood loss, Tess knew and she didn't say anything for a long moment.

A roar of rage and triumph from Caden trapped both girls' attention and Tess had to hold a weak Liz back at the sight of Caden pounding Max to the ground and slamming his head into the ground. For some unexplainable reason, Tess wasn't worried – something told her that Max had everything covered and just as she finished muttering that very thing to Liz, Max got to his feet and to Tess he'd never looked more dangerous.

"Now, it's my turn," his voice was gravelly and rough, practically oozing threats. Judging from Caden's slight flinch and the sweat pooling on his brow, he knew the danger he was in.

Liz squirmed in Tess' arms and with a start of her own; she released the human girl as fast as she could. To her surprise, Liz didn't act as if she was going to continue whatever it was she'd been doing before Nicholas had hurt her; instead, she merely inclined her head with a careful motion that told Tess that although the severity of the injury had lessened, the pain had by no means disappeared.

"We have to help him," Tess whispered, eyeing her surroundings for more enemies, but aside from Caden and one, who was busy clutching his head over by Isabel, who was still beside an unconscious Alex there didn't seem to be any more left.

"It's not necessary." Liz stated in a similar whisper, her eyes locked on Max with a look that Tess didn't remember seeing on her before. It was as if she was looking at the one person that meant more to her than anyone else and if she blinked, something bad would happen.

Instinctively, Tess glanced over at the unmoving figure on the ground a little to her left. Her heart skipped an uncomfortable beat and her stomach churned, as though painfully missing the barely formed connection she'd shared with him. Kyle…I'm so sorry, she thought before once again being distracted from her mixture of grief, guilt and anger.

Caden must have lashed out while I wasn't looking, Tess thought as she saw Max stumble back with a loud grunt of pain, a long, fresh gash running from his shoulder and down to his waist, leaving his shirt in tatters.

I've never seen his eyes look so inhuman, the observation ran through Tess' mind as he very briefly looked in their direction, settling on the blood that covered Liz in particular before he returned his concentration to a panting Caden. Apparently he'd used what was left of his waning strength wounding Max.

"Why can't you and Khivar just leave us alone?" The question was loud in the sudden silence and Tess watched with baited breath as Caden struggled to maintain his menacing aura, but it was useless against Max, who only seemed to be getting stronger with every passing second.

"We wouldn't have interfered in his reign," Max continued, confusing Tess with his knowledge, something she only had a little off courtesy of Nasedo's upbringing. "I- we were content here on Earth, living in peace. Will you just leave, go back to your delusional ruler and tell him we're not interested in a world that we died on so long ago?"

Caden sneered and Tess felt a tiny bit sorry for him, knowing he was sealing his own fate when he finally replied to Max's request.

"My king wants you gone, your line broken forever and I want whatever he wants. Why couldn't you just stay dead, huh? Khivar's ruled Antar for decades now, his love for Vilandra the only positive thing he's got left to remind him of a better time even as his people cling to your memory in a continuous attempt to overthrow him." Caden took a deep breath, settling into a battle stance that Tess recognized as one of those that Nasedo had taught her as belonging to the Royal Guards only and she gained another piece of the puzzle in terms of who Caden really was.

"I'm loyal to my king and your kingdom is ancient history as far as I am concerned; Zan was a spoiled brat and nothing more. You'll never convince me to surrender this fight, so stop stalling and keep going, before I lose whatever patience I have left!"

Max stood completely still for one long minute, closing his eyes briefly as if in prayer and when he reopened them, Tess saw nothing of the teenage boy she'd come to know since arriving in Roswell and she swallowed a lump of pure fear at the sight.

"He's gonna kill him," Tess murmured, grabbing Liz's hand. To her surprise, Liz actually squeezed back as she responded with a mute nod of agreement.

Just as Liz finished moving her head up and down, Max slowly bent down and took two small pebbles in his hands. "At least I tried," he said quietly. As he spoke, he made a fist and Tess had to look away for a second when his fingers started to glow brightly. When she looked back, Max was holding two deadly looking blades in his hands. At that moment, he began to run toward Caden, and the expression on his face was one of resigned determination.

Truthfully that scared Tess more than anything else, but she didn't get a chance to do anything before Max reached Caden. His quick rush seemed to have caught the alien off guard as well because he didn't even try to dodge when Max buried those weapons into his chest with a savage grunt of effort.

He killed a defenseless man, a tiny, moral part of Tess kept on thinking, before her more rational – and vengeful – self came back and reminded her that defenseless or not, Caden hadn't been a good man and would've killed, not only Max but all of them if he'd gotten the chance. He's already partially responsible for K-Kyle's…

Unable to even think the word 'death', Tess vehemently shook her head and just watched alongside Liz as Caden stumbled back, Max's knives still embedded in him as he sunk to his knees and eventually tumbled backwards where he didn't move again.

Maria's POV

The silence in the cave was oppressive at best, an exhausted Maria decided. She was silently watching as Michael, Max and Alex came walking inside carrying their precious cargo between them.

I can't believe what's happened these last few days, Maria thought, biting her lip when her leg gave another stab of pain from the break it had suffered hours earlier.

Michael had done some Czechoslovakian mojo on her leg that hadn't exactly healed her break completely, but had at least made it somewhat bearable. It's nothing compared to what's happened to some of the others here, she continued with a sad sigh and a slight trembling running down her spine at the memory of not only watching Kyle die, but seeing Liz – her best friend in the whole world – get so grievously and mercilessly injured and not having been in any kind of position to help.

Thank God for Michael, Maria looked over at the man in question; his face somber and pale as he helped place a motionless Kyle on the ground they'd prepared for him. If he hadn't helped her, I wouldn't have been as sane as I am right now.

Her eyes travelled over to Max, who looked nothing like the angry warrior he'd been since arriving on the scene to take on Caden. He looked, if not broken, then completely fatigued and weary, as if the weight of the whole universe was on his shoulders.

The second he'd made sure that the insane alien with the creepy eyes was in fact taken care of, Max had all but catapulted himself over to Liz's side and the look of pure tenderness and love that he'd given Liz as he'd carefully pried her bloodied hands off of her neck to complete Michael's weaker healing had sent shivers down Maria's spine and she'd had to look away from their private moment.

Shortly thereafter he'd made his way over to her and reached out to heal her, but Maria had only shook her head and leaned into Michael, who was sitting next to her with a pleading look on his face directed at Max. "I'm okay for now," she'd said and pointed weakly in Kyle's direction, "Please see if you can do something about that."

That had brought the thankful mood to a halt more surely than anything else could have and Maria had been carried into the podchamber and sat down on the floor where Liz had sat down next to her and without any warning at all her friend had hugged her like they hadn't seen each other in years. If she hadn't been so tired and damn relieved that Liz wasn't actually dead, Maria may have wondered about it more, but as it was, she simply returned the hug with a fierce one of her own.

Isabel joined them, along with a shaken looking Tess, who looked like her whole world was over and without any hesitation whatsoever, Maria dragged her into the group hug as well, feeling a few burning tears in her eyes to match Tess' continuous flowing ones.

Courtney sat in the corner, looking like a small wind would bowl her over, and normally Maria would've questioned her right to be there, but she'd actually saved Maria's life when Michael had been busy helping Liz. She'd barely woken up when one of the last Skins had tried literally ripping Maria in half, but she'd stumbled and then crawled over and pushed that weird destruct-o button that they all had before fainting once again.

If only she'd stop eyeballing Michael whenever he's around then I might even like her a little bit, Maria thought with a wry smile. The next moment, Max turned to look in Maria's direction and she had to force herself not to react. It would seem that her forgotten fear of the alien-ness that was Michael had transferred over to Max after seeing his brutal ending of Caden.

Alex stood next to Max and Maria saw him frowning a bit and then his gaze zeroed in on her and she silently cursed herself for her lack of control when her earlier fear spiked a bit. I guess it's normal to fear the guy who tried to kill you, she thought, but then she wanted to kick herself when she saw Alex's minute flinch and Isabel's immediate focus on him.

"I'm sorry about everything," Alex murmured as he settled down next to Maria on her free side. "I wasn't in control of myself…Otherwise I'd never hurt you, I hope you know that."

Maria sighed and wrapped the arm that wasn't around Liz over Alex's tall, gangly shoulders. "Of course I do, Alex. I'm sorry I'm so weak that you have to feel my emotions after what can only have been a seriously poopy day."

Alex's smile was more along the lines of a grimace, but she appreciated his attempt none the less. "Well," he said as he made no move to get up, "at least now you see that envying my 'cool' powers is a complete waste of time."

"I can't believe I was that shallow," Maria whispered, leaning her head on the cave wall behind her. "After today I wouldn't wish any of those freaky Czech powers on anybody. No offence, Tess."

Tess, who was sitting in a similar position on Liz's other side as Maria was, didn't bother replying. Her sole focus was on Kyle's form on the ground and Max, Michael and Isabel's movements as they placed those alien stones Maria had heard about from Michael all around Kyle.

A moment later, Max glanced over at Tess with an almost guilty look to him. "We'll need you to help, Tess," he said gently, as if speaking to a child. Which I suppose is the only kind of mental stability she's able to keep hold of right now, Maria surmised, feeling nothing but pity and understanding for the girl.

If that had been Michael… The mere thought brought a wave of fresh agony over Maria that was tenfold that of the pain in her half- broken leg. Alex gave a small jolt next to her and Maria quickly put a lid on her thoughts, shoving her morbid fantasy of seeing Michael lying dead on the ground to the background as fast as she could. "Sorry," she apologized and Alex merely shrugged and closed his eyes.

Tess unwrapped herself from the human comfort that she'd been encased in since entering the podchamber and Maria watched intently as she slowly made her way over to the other hybrids and gingerly sat down in front of the small amber colored stone that was lying innocently next to Kyle's pale face.

"What are they gonna do?" Maria whispered, not expecting any answers since those who'd know about the details seemed to be getting increasingly focused on pouring some kind of soft glowing energy into the stones in their hands.

"They're magnifying their own powers through the Healing Stones," Liz's slightly hoarse voice answered without any hesitation whatsoever. To Maria's confused surprise, she even expanded on her explanation, "Out of all of them, Max is really the only healer and through their Royal Four connection their strength magnifies to unmeasured dimensions – they're hoping that their combined forces will somehow resurrect Kyle, that the powers that have been awoken in him is enough to make him more like them for the stones to work properly."

"Whoa," was all Maria could really say to that and she got a quick smile from Liz, who then looked back at their Czechoslovakian friends.

It didn't quite hit Maria until later that it was kinda weird that Liz was suddenly such a fountain of knowledge even if she took into account Liz's quest for answers, but Maria was momentarily distracted when suddenly, a curtain of light started evolving around Kyle's body until it suddenly burst into one huge flame like orb that flew inside him with a whoosh of sparkles trailing after it.

And then, rather anticlimactically in Maria's opinion, nothing else happened.

Maria held her breath along with everyone else in the cave, all their eyes transfixed on Kyle for what felt like forever. Even Courtney, Maria noticed when she saw the only surviving Skin lean forward ever so slightly after a few minutes of anxious waiting.

"No…." It was Tess' voice that first rang out in the hollowed rocky cave, "Please don't do this to me, Kyle. Please don't leave me. We've got so much to talk about. Please…Nononono!"

Maria wanted nothing more than to go over to her and comfort her, but for one thing she was still not really able to walk without assistance and for another thing, suddenly Alex began moaning next to her and her attention shifted to him.

"Argh…Stop," he muttered over and over again, bringing Isabel's focus over to him, but before she could help calm him down like she'd done when he'd last lost control, and before Maria could improvise and knock him unconscious with a jagged piece of rock that she'd scooped up from the ground, the entire cave resonated with a primal scream that shattered everyone's nerves.

One heartbeat later, things jumped into motion. She watched in frozen awe, one stone filled hand still halfway raised to smack Alex over the head, as none other than Kyle rushed to his feet with remarkable agility for a dead guy.

Maria yelped in unneeded warning when his completely healed body bowled into Michael's with a force that sent the larger male stumbling to the ground. A second later, Kyle was downright growling at Max as he prowled toward him, an almost casual kick sent an unprepared Isabel to the ground as well and Alex immediately ran to her side. Apparently, he did something to Kyle because the resurrected human bent forward with a groan for one short moment, before he managed to make his way over to Alex with payback in his emotionless eyes.

Liz began to get up, but Maria instantly grabbed a firm hold of her. "Don't be stupid, he's lost it completely- he's gone totally Resident Evil on us," she whispered frantically, hoping that her stubborn friend would see the pure stupidity in getting involved in a fight that not even aliens with powers could seem to stop.

Okay, so they're completely worn out and he's newly energized, Maria quickly amended when Max struggled back on his feet, but still, shouldn't they be able to take us all down in a second no matter what?

"Tess, look out!" Isabel yelled, being the only one to notice that the other girl had jumped to her feet and was running toward an unnoticing Kyle.

Maria watched – along with everyone else – with her mouth wide open in shock as Kyle twisted around to no doubt finish off another wrongly perceived threat, only to be utterly silenced by Tess kissing him with all her might. She was grasping on to his bare chest with hands that was still smeared red with Liz's dried blood, but he didn't seem to mind because after only a few long seconds, his own bloodied arms had wrapped themselves around her much smaller frame and was pushing her as close to him as possible.

Feeling it was safe enough since she was pretty sure that Kyle's sanity was returning, Maria untangled herself from Liz and began crawling over to Michael, who hadn't moved since Kyle had knocked him to the ground. Max had explained earlier, as he'd looked him over before preparing to fetch Kyle into the podchamber that Michael was beyond fatigued. His attempts at healing, at using powers as they weren't meant to be used, had drained him a lot more than usual. Add to that the whole weird, but awesome thing they just did to get Kyle back and there's no question that he's on his last legs, Maria thought as she finally reached her boyfriend.

Maria breathed a big sigh of relief when she saw that Michael wasn't unconscious as she'd first thought. He was just lying there and staring up at the roof of the cave with a small smile on his face. "So I guess Tess took a note out of your book," he said gently, reaching out to caress her cheek with an indescribable look of tenderness in his eyes. "Shutting the guy up by kissing him," Michael explained at Maria's questioning look.

Unable to stop it, Maria chuckled tiredly and leaned against Michael, using him as a comfy pillow even as she took great care in protecting her leg from further aggravating it. "If I wasn't in so much pain right now, I'd totally take my own move back and show them how it's really done," she murmured, placing her head in the crook of Michael's neck which muffled her words a bit.

She felt a small rush of concern and guilt run from Michael's side of their bond to hers and knew what he was going to say even before he said it, "Are you in a lot of pain? If you're still feeling a little iffy about Max, I'll try again to help you and-"

"Don't," Maria interrupted quietly, "I can handle it for now. I know you and Max are more than exhausted right now; I don't wanna burden him with my silly injury until we can't avoid it any longer. He needs, we all do by the way, to charge our batteries so to speak before doing anything else. My immature behavior has caused enough problems for you guys already, I'll deal with it. Just don't move too much, 'cause I kinda want to stay right here with you until we're all better."

"You're not as immature as you think you are, you know." Michael whispered and then added with a small, almost sad smile, "Actually, I'd rather have you immature and innocent than the opposite, believe me.

Maria was about to say something along the lines of 'sure, whatever' when Max spoke and Maria looked over at him to find him sitting next to a content looking Liz.

"We need to take care of Caden's body and the ones that weren't Skins as well," his tone was without any inflection and if Maria didn't know any better, she'd say he was talking about getting some homework done, he seemed that affected by it and once again, Maria was a little more than a bit perturbed.

"I can light a fire," Courtney said, looking at Max with the same look that Maria was sure was gracing her own features. "Burn the evidence before anyone in law enforcement gets involved. I'll have to go to Copper Summit too; to be sure they're all gone before too much time passes."

"I'm pretty sure we did a lot of damage when we escaped," Michael said, making Maria wonder what she had missed before he continued, "but just in case we weren't thorough enough you should check out the Husk room, maybe yours made it, however unbelievable it sounds or…maybe enough survived so that we could fiddle a little with it to help you out."

Courtney looked at Michael like he'd just given her a million bucks. Or like he agreed to sleep with her, Maria thought sourly, but beat it down quickly when she felt Michael's subtle amusement at her emotions.

Their conversation was interrupted by none other than Kyle and Maria switched her attention to him, preferring to look at the formerly deceased and deranged teenager than at her boyfriend's alien stalker.

"I agree with Michael, but you can't burn the bodies though. I've learned a little from growing up in a sheriff's home," he said when Courtney looked at him with a raised brow and a confused expression. "No matter what there's bound to be some kind of evidence and if anyone heard or in worst case scenario even saw a smidge of our earlier battle, then it's gonna be easy to find some kind of DNA evidence or something like that, even if you burn Caden and the others."

"I'll handle it," Isabel said, eying Kyle with such a relieved look in her eyes that Maria briefly wondered if the former Ice Princess had a crush on the sheriff's son until she noticed the way her hands were intertwined with Alex's.

"Handle it how?" Maria blurted out and then immediately wished she'd just kept completely out of the conversation when all eyes turned to her. "I mean, if you don't mind me asking," she murmured embarrassed, - and promptly burrowed her head back into the crook of Michael's neck, feeling unusually insecure for some reason.

"I don't mind at all," Isabel smiled and Maria dared to look over at the girl she'd used to downright fear not too long ago, "I'll use my powers to make them and everything else into sand particles – they'll blow away in the wind like the Skins did when they disintegrated."

"Oh…" was all Maria could formulate verbally even as her mind jumped from question to question that she already knew she'd never ask anybody but Michael. Or Liz since she's always got a way of knowing everything, Maria corrected with an inward smile.

Courtney was the first to leave; she shocked pretty much everyone by actually bowing respectfully to Max before she left for Copper Summit. Not too long after that, Alex and Isabel left too, saying something about waiting in the Jetta so they could all go home to Tess' place and clean up before going home to their own houses.

Tess was practically glued to Kyle's side and Maria heard him say that he was still too juiced up from the revival to actually sit still and plan. Evidently, it'd been the burst of raw energy from all of them that had made him more or less explode as soon as he'd been awoken, too overtaken with instincts to calm down enough to listen to his more rational mind until Tess' actions had grounded him.

Good to know he's not gone cuckoo, Maria thought with a small smile as her eyes followed them out the door. A foreign, yet gentle touch on her injured leg brought Maria right back to the real world and she gave a mighty jerk that sent waves of burning throbbing down her leg. She may even have whimpered a little, but she would never admit it to anybody if asked.

When the red hot pain slowly subsided, Maria opened her eyes and saw Max crouching in front of her. Michael gently pushed her up into a sitting position, clearly in agreement with his friend that Maria's healing had waited long enough.

"You're too tired," Maria argued when Max reached out and placed his hand on her knee, "Michael already took care of most of the breaks, I'm totally fine for now."

"Maria," Michael's tone was full of warning, but it was the look of sheepish remorse on Max's face that finally convinced her that no matter how dangerous he could be, Max truly was a gentle soul underneath it all. Besides, she thought with a quick sigh, if Liz trusts him even after all of this, I'm damn sure gonna follow her lead.

"Thank you, Max." The words slipped out without any hint of bitterness, fear or apprehension and Maria felt a hint of warm gratitude from Michael that told her that she'd done the right thing.

A few minutes later, Maria was convinced again when she actually supported her huge lump of a boyfriend outside to the Jetta where Isabel sat on the backseat with Alex holding her. Courtney had taken her own car and was already gone.

A quick scan of her surroundings told Maria that her fellow blonde had already taken care of the bodies and the rest of the evidence from the battle. One car had survived Isabel's sweep and Kyle and Tess' forms next to it told her that they'd use it to drive home in privacy and she smiled, happy that something finally seemed to go smoothly for them.

"Well, let's go and get cleaned up," she said and got into the driver's seat with a spring in her step that belittled the exhaustion she felt. "Let's get this crappy day over with. Who's with me?"

The answering smiles were proof enough and without another word, Maria turned on the engine and began the drive back to Tess' place.

Liz's POV

Once everyone was gone, Liz saw what she'd been waiting for ever since seeing all of the power that Max had used since he'd joined the battle, only moments before she did.

He paled, utterly spent after using every last bit of energy on Maria's admittedly much needed healing. One breath went by and then he sank down the wall next to her with a tiny groan of pain that Liz knew she wasn't supposed to have heard.

"Come here," she whispered softly, gently leading him into lying down with his head in her lap and awkwardly stroking his sweat soaked hair with the arm that still bore a – by now – very dirty cast. Her own body still throbbed from the treatment she'd gotten from Nicholas' goon, but the memory of that was still hazy, fighting a losing battle over all the other memories she'd somehow gotten shoved into her skull.

"Are you okay?" Max asked, his eyes slowly closing even as he spoke. Liz could feel his concern through their connection, weak though it was, but she didn't worry about the state of their bond at that moment. No, she just wanted to calm her husband down, give him peace.

"I've never been better," she bent forward and placed a small kiss on his sweaty forehead. "I'm here with you."

A hint of surprise bubbled through the bond and Liz smiled with all the love she had in her when Max's eyes reopened with what had to be enormous effort. "What do you mean?" His tone was uneven, but it didn't hide his befuddlement and Liz knew she would get no better time than this to tell him, it was a rarity to be as alone as they were right now.

"Max…" she began and Max frowned only to freeze entirely when she continued, speaking clearly and never looking away from his comically widened eyes, "You know, I would've done the exact same thing you guys did. I want you to know; now more than ever that I love you and I always will. That's why I'm so happy that you took my words to heart and used that brilliant mind of yours to figure out Serena's cryptic words about time travel. Like I said; I would've done the exact same thing."

TBC…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N One odd extra little thing that my beta made me aware off: Unlike canon, this story's Skins have the ability to bleed, something which I forgot they actually don't while writing and am now too tired to correct since the dispatching of said aliens are a big part of this chapter. Now, I'm most eager to hear what you thought :D


	33. Alex, Michael and Liz

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Alex's POV

It was a cool, wet sensation that slowly brought Alex back to the world of the living. A moment of silent pondering told him that someone was running a wet towel across his face and down his bare torso.

Usually, Alex's natural shyness and awkwardness in his own lanky teenage body would have caused him to sit up and grab the nearest cover as he emitted an unmanly shriek. But Alex was exhausted, beyond so in fact.

I feel like I've competed in twenty consecutive marathons and then done eight-thousand pushups. Alex decided wearily as he struggled to compile enough energy to even open his eyes.

After taking one more long breath, Alex's mind caught up with him and he tensed immediately. The memory of what had happened before he'd lost control again flew through his thoughts, along with everything else that had taken place in the cave and for the first time the young teenager could finally begin to comprehend what he'd actually done.

Oh God, he winced, I nearly killed Maria. Isabel too…What am I doing just lying here? Wait, his rational side kicked in and Alex felt himself calm a little, if you're in someone's bed and they're cleaning you, things must have gone in our favor so you can relax a little.

"Alex?" Isabel's worried voice reached him, and he nearly frowned when he realized that he wasn't feeling anything from the bond, or his new power. That gave Alex the last bit of strength he needed to haul his eyes open.

The sight of a disheveled and dirty-faced Isabel met him, but to Alex she was still the most beautiful girl in the world, as she'd been ever since he'd seen her step off the bus for the first time way back in elementary school.

"What happened?" his voice was hoarse, but considering the amount he'd screamed during the last day or so (he still wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been unconscious), Alex wasn't surprised. The last thing he could remember was Isabel guiding him into Maria's mom's car to return to Tess' place, but then everything went black.

Isabel turned half-way around to place the dirtied towel on the windowsill before facing him again. Alex could see dried tear streaks in the dirt on her face, and wanted to grab the towel and return the favor, but he still felt as weak as a newborn kitten, so he promised himself to pay her back later.

"I guess you could say that we won the battle. I'm just not too sure of the war yet," Isabel murmured her eyes trailing up his face to meet his eyes. She continued softly with a small, but sincere smile, "Kyle didn't die after all, you're still here so is everyone else, but I can't help feeling like it's just the calm before the storm. It's all so unreal to me right now."

The mention of Kyle got Alex to remember the last of the fuzzy details and he couldn't contain a smile of his own as he struggled to sit up and answer Isabel. She saw his attempt and quickly sat down next to him to help, and when she tried moving away again, Alex simply held her tight in his shaking arms. "Don't go," he pleaded.

Isabel cringed, making Alex worry until she explained, "I don't want to harm you – I know your gift works better with actual touch, and after what you've suffered ever since getting that damn ability, I want to spare you as much as possible."

In that, at least, Alex could ease Isabel's worries. "Don't be scared. I don't know if it's because I'm so tired, or that I'm out of juice for now, but I don't feel anything other than pure joy that you're okay, and still willing to actually spend time with me after nearly killing you."

The look Isabel sent him would have sent a more capable man running scared, but Alex's exhaustion and inability to move proved to be a good thing when, after a long, tense minute, she sighed and put her head in the crook of his shoulder. "Don't be stupid. I'll always want to be near you."

"Good," Alex whispered and rested his head on top of her's. Underneath all the grime, sweat and blood, he could still smell that special scent that was purely her and it relaxed him more than anything else ever could. "Let's rest for a bit and then go out to the others and talk about everything there. For now, just try and sleep a little, you don't have to keep watch over me anymore, Isabel. Let me return the favor."

The only response Alex got was Isabel's soft, but deep breathing, telling him that she was already sleeping. She is probably just as wiped out as I am, Alex realized, gently letting one shaky hand caress Isabel's cheek and carefully planting a small kiss on her head. The silence echoed all around him, and he added while closing his heavy eyes once again, I guess we all are so I'd better use this opportunity to actually rest a little more…

0o0o0

When Alex woke again, it was dark out and Isabel with him anymore, which immediately raised his adrenaline level a bit. She wouldn't have left without telling you if it was important, Alex's rational side cut through his worry and Alex breathing slowed.

As soon as he could focus outside of his concern for possible emergencies, Alex realized that the air was thick with delicious smells that made his mouth water. A moment later, his stomach growled loudly as if trying to devour itself, and he was thankful that no one but him heard the inelegant sound.

Sitting up fully, Alex discovered that he'd regained some of his strength and, feeling confident in his ability to walk unassisted, he began making his way down to the kitchen.

He made it half-way down the stairs before an unexpected dizzy spell caught him unawares and he quickly sat down on the step to avoid tumbling down and breaking his neck.

Alex had only sat there for about a minute when he heard steps behind him and turned his head to lock eyes with Kyle. The image of his dead body flashed through Alex's mind, and he had to look away. It's weird, he thought, Kyle and I were never the best or closest of friends, but his death cut me deep, just like everyone else.

"Hey, Man." Kyle sat down next to him, nudging him gently with his shoulder. "Feeling okay?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Alex's tone was a little guilty, he still found it somewhat incredible that somehow Kyle was once again living and breathing right next to him. It was a little too odd for his logical mind to grasp; especially in the state it was currently in.

Kyle's grin reminded him that he was actually in a conversation and not talking with an illusion. "Well, I gotta say that being brought back to life like that was invigorating. I don't know how, but I was charged one hundred percent when I woke up…Well, you all saw how I acted." This time it was Kyle, who looked a little sheepish.

"Yeah…" The two guys sat together for a long moment of peaceful silence, before Alex suddenly remembered something. "So you're in love with Tess?"

The small flinch didn't go unnoticed, but Kyle tried to act like it hadn't happened. Instead, he shrugged and looked down at his sock-covered feet and reached out to remove some lint that wasn't really there to prolong his lack of response.

Taking pity, Alex continued, "Look, it's not a blame thing, I promise. I just remember that the emotions running through you two were pretty intense, even with everyone else's running amok as they were. I was just surprised, I guess. I mean, didn't you and Michael and Max say it was her that killed me originally?"

"Err…" Alex soldiered on when the stupefied expression on Kyle's face made it clear the other human didn't have a clue how to reply.

"I can't deny the way you feel, or how she feels either. I just," Alex paused and then grinned tiredly. "Well, I think it's neat that the time travel thing worked out for you in the end, 'cause she truly cares about you. I could definitely feel that."

The relief on Kyle's face was profound, and Alex shook his head. He didn't exactly love his powers, but if they could give someone peace of mind, even a little, they were worth it in the end.

"Anyway," Kyle finally met his gaze again, and Alex wanted to smile when he saw a hint of a lingering blush on his cheeks, but decided it would probably only be funny to him if he did so, "the reason I stopped, was just to see if you're okay. As a fellow human, I know getting weird-ass powers are…Well, weird."

This time it was Alex to look away for a bit, his eyes trailing down the steps as he tried to figure out if he was happy or sad that his disturbing, and sometimes rather painful, abilities seemed to be missing. I do miss the connection with Isabel, he suddenly realized. I've grown so used to always having a part of her with me. I completely forgot to ask her if she could even feel me as I am now.

After another long pause, Alex finally spoke. "They don't work right now, so I guess, I should be happy."

"What do you mean 'they don't work'?" Kyle looked concerned, and Alex knew that if he'd been in tune with is body, he would have felt the worry worm its way into his skin, affecting his every sense. That part he didn't miss.

"Ever since I woke up nothing seems to be working right, not even the bond with Isabel, for some reason. Now that I think about it, that's the part that freaks me out the most."

At his words, Kyle seemed to collapse, and it took a second before Alex understood that it was because he'd relaxed at his words. Kyle opened his mouth and explained that it was perfectly normal to be burned out after overusing their powers. It happened to all the humans that overused them, but after a lot of rest they'd come crawling back to him.

"What about the bond thing with Isabel?" He wasn't concerned about his powers anymore, suddenly, it was just very important to reestablish the connection with the girl he loved.

Kyle smiled comfortingly and got to his feet. "That's gonna come back too. You're just exhausted right now, it's your body's way of telling you that things are at a low point, but don't worry, it doesn't last long."

Alex sighed heavily, exhaling all his untold worries and started struggling to get back to his feet. His dizziness returned as soon as he stood up and he toppled forward. Luckily, Kyle grabbed him just in time and threw his arm over his shoulder.

"I know it's not considered cool to do this when you're practically half-naked," Alex flushed, only now remembering that he still hadn't put on a shirt from Isabel cleaning him, and Kyle laughed and added, "but don't sweat it, I got you."

"Thanks, Kyle." Alex gingerly placed one foot on the lower step, grateful for Kyle's assistance. "I can't seem to regain my strength right now. Ever since we were in that cave, it's like I've just had all my energy sucked out of me or something."

"Well," Kyle's expression had a peculiar look to it, and Alex suddenly had a burning need for his powers to figure out what was going on in the other human's head, "trust me on this, Alex, even though it sounds strange, but this isn't the worst time we've had in a cave together. Last time there were killer crystals…and we were kinda underground, but well…"

"Huh?"

Kyle didn't continue, and Alex decided not to push, realizing a little late that he was talking about something that had happened with that other Alex that had died. Feeling uncomfortable remembering once again that he'd actually been dead before, and by a friend's hand, Alex shook off those memories and concentrated on getting to Isabel and the sinfully delicious smelling kitchen.

A few minutes later, his tired eyes locked on Isabel, who was standing by the stove, cooking up a storm. There were several plates with numerous food items sitting on the breakfast table and he grinned with delight –especially since she'd cleaned herself up and looked a lot better than their earlier encounter in the bedroom.

His laughter distracted Isabel from pouring pancake batter, but judging from the beaming, albeit slightly wobbly, smile she sent him, she didn't seem to mind. Kyle cleared his throat and helped Alex sit down on one of the available chairs.

"I'm just…" Kyle trailed off, looking at a point over Isabel's shoulder, and Isabel's smile dimmed. "Yeah, I'm gonna go see if some of the others are up for some grub." With that, he vanished and Alex looked at Isabel with every intention of figuring out what that was all about, when, in that moment, their connection reopened and he could feel her again.

Fortunately, for Alex's brittle state of mind, it was only their bond that had awakened and not his powers. The massive flood of emotions that were running through Isabel as she watched the now empty doorway where Kyle had stood, would more than likely have knocked him out again.

"Your pancake is burning," Alex pointed out when Isabel didn't seem to come back to herself.

The girl flinched guiltily and immediately put her hand over the pan and evaporated the burning pancake with her powers. She stood with her back to him for a moment, and the continuous stream of happiness, sadness, guilt, worry and confusion was starting to make Alex dizzy again.

Finally, though, Isabel snapped out of it and looked back at him in silence. Alex blinked and ran a hand through his grimy hair. "So," he whispered, reaching out to pour himself a cup of coffee, "I guess there's a story between you two that would explain why you always feel so conflicted around him?"

Isabel swallowed, seeming unable to reply and Alex continued softly, "To be honest, Isabel, I don't care what that story is. I just want you to be happy, so please stop worrying. It's okay that you're thrilled he's alive and with Tess, even while you're angry that he's with her too. The rest of it doesn't matter anymore. We're living a new life now, remember?"

Slowly, Isabel loosened up and after a short hesitation, she made her way over to him and to Alex's surprise, she dropped to her knees and planted her head in his lap. "I'm just to tired, Alex, but please," she turned a little to look up at him, "please don't doubt my love for you... ever."

Alex smiled and caressed her soft hair with elation, "You forget that I can feel you, so I won't ever have that problem." He bent over and raised her head enough for him to gently place a kiss on her lips. The sensation was invigorating and it ignited the spark inside of him that was his powers, and the next thing Alex knew he was once again able to feel everything.

"Uh, I'm sorry." Isabel all but tore herself away from him, when she too, felt his powers return, but Alex barely noticed. He was too busy fighting for control of his power, and then somehow, Alex suddenly had it and he was able to shut it off for the first time.

"It can be controlled," he muttered, opening his eyes to look into Isabel's eyes with pure joy. "Don't tell me why I couldn't before, but right now; I just know how to use this instead of it using me. So," Alex grinned widely and opened his arms, "you better come back here right now."

Laughing, Isabel did just that and they sat together, just enjoying each other. This is why I don't mind any of that other stuff, Alex thought, about her caring too much for Kyle or even the dangers and pain that follows them around. As long as we're together nothing else matters and I'm beginning to understand why they fought so hard to return to us…

His stomach complained loudly and interrupted their tender moment. Alex shrugged sheepishly, and rubbed his belly pathetically. A few seconds later, Isabel had poured him some coffee and some juice and reheated the food all around him.

"Let's eat," she smiled, handing him a plate of bacon. "God only knows how much there will be left once the rest of them joins us."

Alex smiled and nodded in agreement before losing himself in the wonderful food, briefly wondering how his two best friends were doing.

Michael's POV

The sound of her tears woke him up, the feeling of her sadness that rushed at his dulled senses with the subtlety of a brick smashing through a glass window. With a small groan, Michael dragged himself back to consciousness, pushing his many aches to the back of his mind.

Before he was entirely awake, Michael had his arms around the shivering girl he loved so much. "Shh, Baby," he whispered, "what brought this on?"

He could feel her gulp big breaths as she tried to stop sobbing. It took her several tries, but then Maria finally subsided in her violent crying and graduated to hiccupping shallowly.

"I don't know," she got out, her voice muffled from keeping her head at his chest. "I was dreaming, and then things just hit me, you know? These crazy things aren't supposed to happen to kids. We're still kids, you know?"

Michael barely suppressed a flinch, "I know," he agreed quietly instead. Maria burrowed closer to him and continued spilling her every thought.

"I thought I was okay with everything. We survived, or got brought back to life in Kyle's case, that's a weird thing I've not even begun thinking through, but that's fine 'cause I'm still trying to not think about my best friend lying dead on the ground with her freaking throat cut open for all to see!"

The image of Liz's injured state flew into Michael's mind, and this time he couldn't quite fight off the uncomfortable shudder that ran through him. She looked both so panicked and so serene at the same time, he remembered, all her interest was in Max's battle with Caden as if her dying wasn't even important. She looked…Michael hesitated and then thought with a growing sense of foreboding that he didn't quite understand, she looked like the old Liz…

"Michael?" Maria's worried voice interrupted his thoughts, and Michael forced a small smile on his face to show he was still listening.

"I thought I was fine," the human girl continued softly, and Michael's heart went out to her. "But… I don't…This is so not what a normal teenager goes through, and you know what?" She moved her head to look into his eyes fully, "for some crazy reason, despite all the fear and horror and genuine grossness of everything, I still have this notion that I'd rather do it all over again than live a perfectly safe life without you. I want to be with you no matter what and it boggles me, I don't get it!"

Michael closed his eyes, feeling a pang in his chest at her words. The 'no matter what' part reminded him of the day they'd decided to leave Roswell, how her intense eyes had grounded him, promising that she would follow him no matter what, despite the rocky year they'd had relationship-wise.

I've longed for her to care for me that way again, Michael thought, grasping Maria's smaller body and pulling her close once more, but it's bittersweet to finally hear her acknowledge it. Knowing her she'll begin to pull back and avoid me like Liz did to Max when after hearing his mother speak of his destiny…

"Do you think things will settle down now?"

Michael sighed at Maria's question, too weary to hide it. "I don't know," he answered seriously, "but I'll do my best to keep you out of harm's way if worst comes to worse."

There was a short, heavy pause and suddenly, Maria moved. In one quick movement, she'd sat up, grabbed a pillow and threw it in his face. Michael was so dumbfounded that he just kept lying there, staring up at her with his jaw hanging open in disbelief.

"I'm not worried about me, Dumbass!" Maria practically shrieked, lunging for the pillow again. "Like it or not, I'm just a measly human and easily overlooked. You on the other hand…Don't you dare get killed!"

"Uhm…" Well, what could he really say to that? It seemed like Maria approved of his non-response and slowly made herself comfortable at his side again.

"Now," she muttered, stroking his chest once, "I'm gonna sleep some more and if I have anymore nightmares that make me cry like a little girl then either find me some of my oils or hug me tighter. You got that?"

"Yeah." Michael grinned widely, settling down to rest a little more himself as well. "Oils and hugs, I got it."

0o0o0

When he woke up again, Michael felt more at ease than he really could remember. The bond with Maria practically hummed from their earlier talk and with a soft kiss to her sleep ruffled hair, Michael eased his way out of the bed.

He went in search of the nearest bathroom only to stop when he found Liz, of all people, standing in front of the closed door to said bathroom.

Unbidden, the image of her bleeding throat came to him, and Michael had to fight off a sudden burst of nausea and panic. She's here, he calmed himself, and she didn't die.

"Liz?" He walked a little closer, and the brunette turned around with the same grace he'd always associated with the Liz from his original timeline. Again, there was a small pang in his chest for memories lost before he managed to focus on the positive things. They were all still alive, for one.

"Oh hey, Michael." Liz greeted, turning back to the door which she stared at with a concentrated expression on her face, almost as if she was-

Michael frowned, "Are you actually thinking to Max in there? 'Cause even though I know you guys always had that 'soul-mate' thing going on, that's just a little too much closeness, you know?"

Liz froze for a long moment, and Michael had just enough time to worry that he'd offended the girl; he'd used to joke rather candidly within their original lifetime, before she broke out into a big grin and shook her head at him.

"Don't make me laugh right now, Mike, I'm busy trying to get Max back to the realm of the living."

"What do you mean?" Instantly, Michael was on edge again, his feet already carrying him toward the door to lend aid. "He's hurt?"

Thankfully, Liz shook her head and immediately eased his worries.

"No," she said with a heavy sigh, "I think with everything happening over the last few days, his mind just needed a break. He went in to take a shower two hours ago and he's still there. He…" for the first time there was a hint of something other than vague, tired annoyance on Liz's face and Michael once again had the eerie sense of recognition that he'd had earlier. "He's shut down, that's the best way I can explain it."

The two of them stood silently in front of the unmoving door that seemed like a huge obstacle in their way to Max, both too polite to actually wrench the truly fragile wood off its hinges to get to the man they both considered the strongest one of them all. Finally, Liz turned back to Michael with a curious expression of…Well, if Michael had to name it, he'd say it was mirth.

"You better go in there," she said, nodding with her chin at the door. "I think I'll go back to our room and try to fix this mess, since Max is still a little too out of it to help me."

Michael followed Liz's eyes, and for the first time, he noticed the once so pristine plaster on her broken arm. It was now dirty beyond belief, covered in the reddish sand from the desert and chunks of dried blood that the Antarian rightfully guessed mostly belonged to her. Now that he noticed it, Michael realized that she was still mostly covered in dirt, sweat and blood. That told him that unlike most of them, Liz had returned to the Harding house and hadn't cleaned herself up yet. It was kinda gross, to be honest.

"Oh, do you want my help?" He asked, already reaching forward a little in case she said yes.

Surprisingly, Liz quickly stepped backwards with an unexplainable smile on her lips. "No thanks," she said, all but covering up her injured arm. "I'm not that injured, my friend. I'll wait for Max – tell him I'm in the downstairs bathroom instead of our room, cleaning myself as much as I can in a sink, okay?"

"Uh, sure," Michael muttered, his eyes following the brunette as she made her way to her self-proclaimed goal and disappeared from his sight altogether. That was weird; he thought with a growing frown, she seemed a little different than usual. I would've expected her to rage and scream for answers considering her past behavior, but she seemed almost too calm compared to what's happened to her lately. Maybe that's why Max is freaked out?

The thought of his friend, and leader, got Michael to focus and he turned back to the bathroom-door with a small sigh. "Like it or not, Maxwell, here I come." He warned and placed his hand over the doorknob, using his powers to unlock the door and enter.

The moment the large hybrid had closed the door behind him and found Max. Michael's insides momentarily twisted together in a mix between horror and dawning realization of just how bad Max's state of mind really was.

Max was sitting naked as the day they'd clawed their way out of the pods, in the bottom of the tub with water pouring down on his back and bowed head. The red welts on his skin, and a quick look at the shower faucet, told Michael that Max had turned up the water to the highest temperature available.

But, Michael thought, eying the lack of steam with a knowing look, since he's been sitting there for about two hours, according to Liz, he's sitting in freezing water now.

Another close look revealed that Max's lips were blue, and his body was trembling under the ongoing water, but his eyes seemed completely blank.

It reminded Michael of another time when Max's mental state had been completely broken by stress and loss and just all around badness. Max had kept everything inside to stop people from spending valuable time worrying about him, even Liz had been fooled until the day Max's defenses had failed, where his temper had gotten the best of him. He had almost killed Sydney, his powers lashing out at her and suffocating the girl. In the end it had been Liz who had stopped the attack by managing to force herself to her feet and drag herself over in front of him, because even half out of his mind, Max would never hurt Liz.

And then he completely shut down, Michael remembered, seeing the memory play out in his head. Max had barricaded himself in the shabby conjoined bathroom of the two rundown motel rooms they'd all been hiding in, not responding to anyone or anything. Even back then, Liz had known to send in Michael since she knew her husband's guilt would only increase by seeing her, knowing how close he'd come to hurting her – even if the rest of them knew she was never really in danger.

It had taken a lot of gentle talking – something Michael at the time hadn't had the most experience in, a lot of patience and in the end a good smack on the head to get the brunette to even begin responding to him. They'd never spoken of that day since.

Somehow I don't think a simple smack is gonna be enough to solve this, Michael thought as he cautiously inched closer to the still immobile Max. He looks numb right now, but if I move too fast he may lash out and accidentally hurt me and that'll only make things worse…

The General in Michael was busy coming up with counter-plan upon counter-plan when, to his huge shock, Max turned his head in the direction he was standing in.

Michael held his breath, but when, after nearly a minute, nothing happened, he exhaled heavily and chanced a little talking after all.

"I ain't exactly enjoying seeing you full Monty there, Maxwell."

Max didn't respond, but Michael hadn't expected him to, he was just happy not to be lifted up and thrown through the door. Another couple of small steps led Michael to the toilet, and he slowly sat down, eyeing the intensely staring brunette all the while.

Finally, after another few minutes with no words, Michael's patience couldn't take it anymore. "Wanna fill me in here? I'm a little confused to be honest, last I saw you, you were keeping things together."

For one entirely too brief moment, it seemed like Max was actually going to twitch his lips up into a half-smile, but then a rush of some other, darker emotion ran over his weary friend's face. Another minute went by before Max eventually, to Michael's relief, opened his mouth and then his words completely tilted Michael's world upside down yet again.

"Liz remembers." After taking in a deep breath, Max exhaled the next part heavily, "she remembers everything."

"What the hell?" Michael had jumped to his feet before his brain had made a conscious decision to do so. "…I mean…What the hell? That's great, isn't it? I mean I'd think it was great; you don't look like you think it's great. Don't you think it's great? Why don't you think it's great?"

Oh jeez, Michael had to repress an urge to rip out his own tongue; I was channeling my Maria for a second there. He took a deep breath, trying to keep all his questions from running out his way too active mouth. A moment later, Michael was distracted from his internal self-flagellating by Max doing the absolute last thing he'd expected, judging from how he'd been acting: the guy laughed, a big, throaty and hoarse laugh that sounded like it wasn't used all that much. Which, Michael shrugged mentally; it kinda isn't, now that I think about it.

Max brought an end to his thoughts when he suddenly got up on his feet, naked as the day they'd been found in the desert. Michael rolled his eyes, ripped off the shower curtain that was around the bathtub and unceremoniously threw it at the other male.

"Don't shock my delicate senses, Maxwell – I don't think I could handle any more right now."

Max nodded silently, wrapping the curtain around him and, with a few gestures, transformed it into some nondescript clothing before stepping out of the tub. With every movement, it seemed to Michael as if Max's usual strength was coming back tenfold.

"Look," Michael held up a hand, tilting his head a little in confusion, "not that I'm not thrilled to see you back to your senses again, but weren't you like half-way insane just a minute ago?"

With a small smile Max replied, "I guess the only way to explain it is that my mind and my body needed a break. After Liz told me that her memories were back, I kinda spaced out; too many things had happened in too short a time and I came in here to take a shower and next thing I remember is you barging in here and pulling me together like…like last time. I'm glad you didn't have to hit me, though, my head's killing me to be perfectly honest."

"What happens next, Max?" Michael stepped to the side to let Max pass so he could reach the door.

Max looked over his shoulder as he reached for the doorknob. "I'm going to have a talk with my wife." And with that, he disappeared, leaving the door wide open, not noticing that Michael was overwhelmed by a sudden rush of pure envy to such a degree that his knees buckled and he slid down to the tiled floor.

Why are you acting like such a girl? Michael tried to rally himself back to his own senses; you've got nothing to be jealous off. Remember how Maria was at the end? Do you really want her going back to that? She's young and still pretty innocent in this time; her memories would more than likely destroy her…

The thoughts brought forth an onslaught of memories of a much more jaded, battle-weary and all-round haunted Maria that truly hated the way her powers struck fear in everyone just by looking at them. Seeing everyone's worst fears created a black hole in her, Michael thought, running a shaky hand through his hair, a black hole that eventually consumed her until she decided to die alongside Liz, leaving me, the person she claimed to love the most, behind.

That last thought somehow managed to bring Michael's tumult emotions into a semblance of peace, and, with a long, heavy sigh he slowly got back to his feet again. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the bathroom-mirror, and he cringed.

Jesus, I look like the walking dead, he thought and he quickly opened the faucet and splashed a generous amount of ice-cold water on his face, rubbing it to bring back an inkling of color to his pasty skin.

After another few minutes, which he spent getting himself under control, Michael set out to get some food. As soon as he walked toward the stairs, a mouthwatering scent reached his nostrils and Michael quickened his steps, pushing all else aside with a stubbornness that had gotten him through war alive.

As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, Michael heard the most beautiful sound in the world, to him: Maria's laughter. He stopped in the doorway to the kitchen and just looked as she grinningly handed a napkin to a blushing Alex, whose chin was bearing evidence of a spill of some kind that Michael wasn't too interested in, his eyes riveted on the sight of his beautiful wife.

In that moment, Michael had no doubt whatsoever that somehow, sometime in the future, Maria would once again consent to be his bride, and that knowledge finally cemented his decision to stop his petty jealousy of Max and Liz's relationship.

If I had to choose, Michael decided and made himself known by falling into the empty seat next to Maria and ordering to be fed with a smile up at an equally grinning Isabel, I'll take Maria's happiness over my own any day of the week. Besides, he added mentally, when Maria turned to look at him with a look that bore that special kind of adoration and annoyance that was just for him, I'm not exactly miserable with this Maria, now am I?

Liz's POV

Leaving her husband behind for Michael to take care of, took more willpower than Liz had anticipated. As soon as Michael closed the door behind him, Liz instinctively snuck back to listen at the door, before her more rational – and older – self got her to change direction midway and walk back to the bedroom she'd spent only a short time in before Max had decided to "take a shower".

The bright sun was mocking her and Liz quickly pulled the curtains to block it out, childishly sticking out her tongue before rolling her eyes at herself.

What am I doing? She plopped down on the untouched bed with a loud sigh. I screwed things up with Max; he's too weary to truly understand what's happened. I should at least have waited a few days before springing this on him.

Liz closed her eyes and the image of Max's frozen expression back at the podchamber immediately came back to haunt her. The worst part of it all, Liz remembered, absentmindedly scratching a speck of dirt, or maybe dried blood off of her collarbone, is the state of our bond. I can't believe I – the younger part of me – let it get so strained. I am her so I know what she thought about it, and to a point I sort of understand it, but still…the connection between us has always been instant, so I don't understand myself…

Another, recent memory floated into Liz's thoughts to remind her just how idiotic and selfish she had behaved at times. Max sitting in the Crashdown, looking crushed when she'd asked him to close the bond.

From the way he looked, Liz recalled, biting her bottom lip worriedly, I'd say they hadn't been back for long at that point.

Liz sat, her mind going in circles for a long while, ignoring the random bursts of emotions from Max's side, figuring he was responding to whatever it was that Michael was saying. Finally, she sat up and abruptly cursed.

"Stop it. I did what I did because I didn't know Max's story. It's completely illogical to keep shaming myself into a big mess of remorse. I'm back and I will fix things and make everyone happy again." She firmly told herself, standing up and ripping off her dirty and ruined shirt. She was suddenly completely disgusted by all the gore on her body, and in half a mind to call for Isabel to come help her out, but before she could make up her mind, the bedroom door opened and Max walked in.

Liz froze mid-movement, her ruined shirt dangling from suddenly boneless fingers as she watched his eyes travel up and down her body. After a little too long for it to be deemed appropriate, Max met her eyes again and simply said that they needed to talk.

"Yeah," was all Liz managed to croak out, all her earlier wisdom and power seemingly vanishing in thin air in a few seconds. "We really do."

TBC…


	34. Tess, Max, Tess and Liz

Tess' POV

Tess had just finished taking a much needed shower when the door opened and Kyle walked in. At first glance, the sheriff's son seemed troubled, so Tess probed their bond tentatively to see if there was something bothering him. To her dismay, she found their connection was barely there, clearly a sign that Kyle wasn't interested in sharing how he felt at that moment.

How he's gotten so good at controlling the bond so quickly, Tess thought with a small frown marring her features, I'll never know. I guess all I can do is try talking to him.

Tess threw her brush at the bed before turning her full attention to the boy she'd fallen in love with, however crazy it still sounded to her when she thought about it.

"Hey, Kyle."

Kyle jumped in surprise, and the light in the bathroom flickered a second until he regained his equilibrium.

"Hi, I'm sorry I didn't think you'd be up yet, I was just gonna check on you."

Suddenly, feeling a little bashful, Tess shrugged and looked up at him out of the corner of her eye. "I couldn't sleep…dreams, you know?"

Kyle nodded and Tess continued with a small smile, "I was just wondering where you were, actually. Have you eaten? There's plenty of food in the fridge, I went shopping before—"

Tess cut herself off, the memory of Kyle lying dead on the ground haunting her and affecting her vocal chords. If I live to be a hundred, I will never see anything so horrible again, she thought, fighting to shake off the images while staring fully at Kyle, because he was alive and not dead out there in the desert!

"Tess…" Kyle's voice rang through her; the worry in it gave her a feeling of warmth, like she had just finished a mug of hot chocolate. The pleasant, not to mention uncommon, sensation helped drive away the frightening memories.

"It's nothing, don't worry," she murmured, trying to tell herself simultaneously that she was an independent woman and really should stop acting like a love struck teenager. But I am a love struck teenager, Tess' rebellious side pointed out and she shook her head violently.

The awkward tension grew. Kyle was fidgeting with a thread of his worn shirt while Tess was looking everywhere but at him. Eventually though, Tess gathered enough courage to blurt out the question that she'd been dying to know the answer to since…well, for a while.

"Are you happy?"

Kyle frowned, taking the time to rip off the thread before looking over at her. Tess swallowed at the dark expression that flashed over his face. "I…I don't know, to be honest, Tess. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, because I don't want you to be sad. It's just hard to explain."

"Try," Tess ordered gently, walking over to him and taking his hand before leading him over to the bed to sit. "I promise I won't start crying or anything, no matter what you say. I'm not a crybaby. Nase— I've always been encouraged to keep my emotions in check, so don't worry, I can take it."'

At her slip of the tongue, Kyle's frown transformed into a full-fledged scowl that, for one brief second, made Tess want to run and hide, despite the fact that he was the actual human in the room. If he can even be called that anymore, she thought, licking her dry lips. He's got powers that can rival any of ours in potency and after what happened in the podchamber, I'm not too sure anymore…

"Look," Kyle's voice brought Tess back into the present, and she put her thoughts aside to ponder later. "I'm not exactly good with words, but yeah, a part of me is thrilled that you're here, willing to be with me and I really don't want to fight that part. And there's the other part of me that's still beyond pissed about your lying and mindwarping me."

From the way Kyle's eyes suddenly looked, he seemed far away. Tess figured he was remembering the time she'd wiped his memories of them being aliens after the incident in the computer room with his friend, Johnny.

The awkwardness turned into guilt. Well, to be fair, Tess tried to comfort herself, it's not like I could possibly have known how great he'd take everything…no matter how much Isabel kept trying to tell me. The attempted self-soothing rang a little hollow, so Tess just ended up sighing heavily.

Her breathing seemed to bring Kyle's attention away from whatever it was he was thinking, and once again focused on her. Tess swallowed audibly.

"I told myself when I started developing these feelings for you that I'd let the past go," Kyle muttered, not looking away. Tess couldn't bring herself to move, even if she wanted to. "When I was brought back to life by you guys yesterday, I was overwhelmed by this insane need to just be with you, and now that I've calmed down, I can't really say that inclination has changed – no matter what kind of mistakes you've made before. So, to answer your question in a very convoluted way; yeah, I think I'm happy and you play a big part in that."

Okay, Tess thought, trying with all her might to keep her emotions in check as she'd promised mere minutes earlier, not the love declaration I was hoping for, but it's still more than I expected, I guess.

Apparently, something slipped through her defenses, because Kyle scooted a little closer and took a firm, yet gentle hold of her shoulders. "Look at me, Tess," he ordered softly, and she could do nothing but obey. "I can't promise you the world right now, because there's still so much you don't understand and I'm not that sure I can ever really explain things to you without causing some sort of meltdown and–"

"Don't," Tess whispered, reaching up to caress his cheek, but stopped halfway when her nerves got the better of her. "I said I could handle it. Besides," she smiled tentatively, "it's not like I haven't kept secrets from you, remember."

Not for the first time, Tess noticed something flash through Kyle's eyes while the bond echoed with some vague emotion that was too complex for her to grasp, but for once she acted like it didn't bother her and just kept staring at the human she'd fallen in love with.

Sensing his indecisiveness, Tess just gently poked his cheek with a small smile dancing on her lips. "I'm fine, Kyle," she stated, "I'm just happy that you're not d…That we didn't have to leave you in the podchamber. And let's be honest here—" Tess forced a grin,—"it's not like we've really known each other long enough to reveal everything. Just know that I'm strong and capable of handling a lot more than I get credit for, for future reference."

A long minute went by before Kyle seemed to work out what she'd said. The tension slowly seeped from his body, and Tess had to hand it to herself, she finally got rid of the awkwardness.

Only, not entirely, Tess amended a moment later, when she realized that Kyle hadn't stopped staring at her lips since she stopped speaking. Without any conscious thought, Tess' tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip.

It was as if the movement acted like a verbal permission for Kyle to take control. He sent her one quick glance before promptly leaning forward with a whispered, "Screw all this talking, I ain't Max," before his warm lips slanted over hers in an intense kiss that made her mind go blank.

All her focus was on the way his lips were a perfect fit against her own, the taste of him and the scent of his skin, coupled with the usual warmth of his body so close to hers numbed her to everything else…at first.

Suddenly, Tess' attention was overwhelmed by the massive amounts of images that she began to receive from Kyle's side of the bond.

Kyle was running into the Granolith chamber with Liz, Michael and Maria. Liz screaming at Max, who was standing beside…was that girl really her? "Max stop!" Liz's next frantic words froze Tess' insides completely and she stopped worrying about the confusing fact of her own presence, "It was Tess. Tess killed Alex. She mindwarped Alex and sent him to Las Cruces to decode the book, when he broke out of the mindwarp and she killed him."

Max's confused eyes landed on Kyle with growing anger, "Why didn't you say anything?" "Because," was Kyle's reply, "she mindwarped me!"

Tess stopped moving altogether, her mind soaking up every flash from the human in front of her, not noticing that she'd grabbed onto his face, keeping him in place by pure instinct in an attempt to gain more knowledge.

"I carried his body. She made me think it was luggage. She killed him. Tess killed Alex." "You know, of all the aliens I've met, you're the only one who has no soul." "We took you into our home, Tess. We protected you. And how did you repay us? You brainwashed me into carrying Alex's dead body!" "We don't remember a lot. In our other life Khivar was our enemy. He was trying to take over my throne. Isabel fell in love with him, and helped him overtake us. It was a blood bath; we were all killed, including Isabel. Our genetic material was mixed with human DNA, and then we were sent here.

Then a series of more horrifying moments streamed through her head, and Tess could feel her mind struggling to keep up, but still she didn't stop the connection – too intent on seeing what the hell was going on, because this had to be some kind of evil joke.

The setting changed, seemingly newer and yet a lot darker. Kyle was fighting, killing Skins and other humanoid aliens with his powers, standing back to back with Michael, carrying a bleeding teenager to safety, while calling for Max, and screaming for the girl, Sydney to hang on, embracing Liz as she cries on his shoulder, trying to get an unbelievably gaunt Maria to smile, having rough, animalistic sex with a silently crying Isabel, pretending that he doesn't see the truth; that she's still in love with a dead boy that was killed by Tess, a hated phantom continuously haunting his mind wherever he goes. "I just died for you Woman…" Kyle lying bloodied and undoubtedly dying, watching Isabel leave him behind for the last time. Waking up, young again, in a dark forest with the group of Antarians staring at him with varying degrees of shock. Realizing they were back again, seeing Tess again, ready to kill her instantly—

"ARGH!"

Tess broke through to the present, her mind hurting with everything and the horror and confusion waging war within her, it was just too much and she wanted to not see what she'd seen. A stinging pain on her face vaguely told her that she was trying to claw her own eyes out, but she didn't stop – she couldn't, just as she couldn't stop screaming out her agony.

Warm hands struggled with hers, forcing her bloody fingers, now coated with bits of flesh, away from her hurt face and eyes. In the distance, Tess heard Kyle's desperate calls of her name, begging her to just snap out of it, but she couldn't – all she could do was scream, because it was all too much…

Max's POV

Seeing the still bloodied and dirty form of Liz standing in front of him, knowing that she remembered everything up until her death in the original timeline again was awe-inspiring, mind baffling and terrifying all at the same time and all Max could do for a long moment, was just stare at her.

Despite the grime and the blood, she had never looked more beautiful to him than she did in that moment. He was so lost in just looking at her, that Liz's voice actually made him flinch when she broke the silence.

"To be honest, Max, I don't really know how to begin. I mean back at the podchamber, you just looked at me when I told you the truth and didn't really say anything. When we got back here you went to take that shower and…Well, you know better than me what happened next. I'm afraid whatever I say will set you off again. I mean, are you unhappy that I'm back? I guess, I could understand that, the Liz I used to be was a lot more innocent and—"

Max was moving before she could finish her sentence, and without any preamble whatsoever, he enveloped her in his arms and just held on to her tightly for a long while. At first he tried to force down their bond, knowing how much it tended to freak her out, until he remembered that unlike this timeline's Liz, his wife had thrived on their connection.

It took but a minute to decide whether or not to open himself up, for some reason, it felt like exposing himself to an unbelievable degree, no longer used to it. It makes sense though, Max thought to himself, grabbing onto Liz's body with all his might. First I lost you, then the war escalated, then we came back here and you weren't fully you anymore, so I lost the ease of this…but not anymore.

With his last thought, Max slowly opened up their bond, fully showing everything that was in him in the hopes of vanquishing any shred of doubt Liz might have had of his feelings.

The gasp told him it had succeeded, and if that hadn't been enough for Max, a second later, Liz's side of the bond responded in kind by opening up as well and all thoughts of calmly and maturely talking things out completely disappeared from his mind.

Then moving as if in a daze Max placed his head in the crook of Liz's neck and breathed her in deeply. The smell of the battle, the blood and grime, didn't linger. It was the scent of her that was so unique he could pick it out of a line up with a blindfold on… that he couldn't get enough of. Before he knew it, Max began kissing her soft skin, nibbling her neck like his memories reminded him that she used to love.

"M-Max…" Liz's voice washed over him, bringing with it salvation and hope for a much brighter future. She was healing him, the true healer in Max's mind had returned to save him from further hardships.

He could feel her heart beating frantically, and managed to tear his mouth away from her neck long enough to meet her widened brown eyes. A moment later, Max had reached out his hand to trail down a finger on her cheek. The colorful afterglow of his touch briefly reminded him of the very first time it had happened back when they'd been mere children the first time.

The memories of all the other times it had happened in their lives together came and went with satisfaction, but nothing thrilled him more than knowing that it would not be the last time it happened, because she was back in his arms and better yet, she wasn't afraid of him any longer.

Liz's muffled chuckle in his ear made Max step back to look her fully in the eyes again, and her small smile made him want to do things to her that his current teenage body had yet to experience. "What?" he whispered softly.

Liz shook her head and then trailed a finger of her own down his cheek until she reached his recently transformed shirt. "I can't do it to you," she muttered, a smile still etched on her face, and it was infectious as he too recalled the first time she'd said those words.

"It's so amazing to know that I won't lose those memories now," Max said – his senses coming back as the haze of lust and desire slowly trickled backwards, "it's like I've woken up from a nightmare I didn't even know I was having, you know?"

"I know exactly what you mean," Liz nodded, as she watched her hand fingering his neckline, and in that moment, Max noticed the shameful state of the cast on her arm and wanted to kick himself. In a flash, he'd gingerly grabbed the arm and led Liz toward the bed, sat her down and unceremoniously begun crumbling the rather gross-looking plaster under his fingers, personal weariness be damned.

"Max," Liz tried taking her arm back, but he wasn't about to let her suffer from an injury when he could prevent it.

"Liz," he said, pausing to look her deeply in the eyes. "I let you decide when you didn't have your memories out of respect for you and the fact that you didn't really know anything about me, but now that you do, why should you put up with this when I can stop it?"

"Because," Liz replied promptly, her face set in that stubborn mask that warned Max that he was about to tread on thin ice, "I can't go home without a cast. I haven't worn it the prescribed amount of days yet. Even my parents' pre criminal record would notice that, don't you think?"

"I'll just make a new one after I've healed you." Max stated and went back to his work. It took a moment for his powers to fix the break in her wrist, and nary a few more to transform a pillowcase into a new, much cleaner, cast.

"There." Max released Liz's arm with a satisfied sigh. Suddenly he was overcome with a massive amount of dizziness. "Whoa…" He began to tilt forward awkwardly, landing in Liz's arms with a small groan.

"Max? Are you okay?" Liz's tone wasn't frantic, but it certainly held enough worry for Max to immediately try to calm her down.

"It's nothing," he murmured, eyes closed as he tried fighting back a sudden wave of nausea. "Think I'm just finally feeling the effects of using too much power lately, this body isn't as trained as my old one was, to be honest."

"Shh," Liz soothed, gently helping him down to lie in a more comfortable position, "don't talk too much. I bet you're hungry, so I'll go grab something for you to eat."

The very idea of actually eating only made things worse, and his expression must have told Liz that because she cringed with sympathy and just stayed put.

"Join me?" Max asked, unable to not look at Liz – dizziness nowhere near as important as actually looking at the woman he loved, however sappy that sounded.

"Sure," Liz smiled and gently placed herself along his body with her head on his chest.

Max savored the closeness and his nausea slowly disappeared, but he still didn't move – too content to actually get back up and go to the kitchen for food. Instead, Max gripped Liz tighter and decided to get their "talk" over with.

"I'm very happy that you're here," he began quietly, feeling Liz stiffen next to him at his words. "I don't understand how exactly, but I'm not in the least bit sorry, no matter how I originally acted. My mind just went on a little break, I think. There's been so much I haven't been able to tell you until now. Taking care of Hubble, Nasedo, Topolsky and Tess. The whole Serena mess and—"

"Wait," Liz moved to look at him and Max frowned at the eager look in her eyes, "what Serena mess? She's okay, right?"

Swallowing a lump of dread, Max tried to find the words to describe what had happened between him and the mysterious little human girl. I had forgotten how much Liz loved Serena. She was like a mother, sister and best friend all rolled into one…

"I know that face," Liz burrowed her face back into his chest with a heavy sigh. "Something not so great happened."

"Yeah…"

"Just tell me, please. I think some of 'innocent Liz's' annoyance with secrets travelled over to me when I took her place or whatever. Just give me the cliff notes version."

"Okay," Max turned on his side, so he could look at Liz more closely as he tried formulating what had really happened with Serena. "Isabel and I went to her house to heal her. I tried, but somehow her…I don't know what it was, but it was her as we knew her that connected with me mentally and she basically told me not to bother. Something about not repeating mistakes was all she said."

"Huh," Liz exclaimed softly, her eyes dry as she pondered his words.

Well, Max thought bitterly, I guess it's not that surprising, considering its Liz from our future that's in control now. She is nothing if not strong. "So," he said quietly, "I wasn't happy with her decision, but I reluctantly decided that it'd be disrespectful not to honor her wishes."

Liz didn't say anything for a little while, and just when Max was about to encourage her to speak her mind, Liz broke all of his preconceived beliefs when a lone tear slowly trickled down her face. The rush of intense mourning from her side of their connection nearly overpowered him, and a fresh wave of nausea made its way through him.

In the first disoriented second, Max had no idea what was going on, but then he remembered. Serena had still been alive when Liz had died. She didn't know that she wasn't waiting in the wings in Phoenix with her old mind and memories intact – She's grieving for her pseudo daughter…

"Oh, Liz," Max whispered and went to embrace her again, when, suddenly, an eerie scream rang through the entire house.

The two brunettes jumped to their feet, and instinctively fell into a battle formation as they rushed out of the room in search of the source. A pounding on the stairs told Max that those already up and downstairs had heard it too and was coming to investigate as well.

Michael's long legs carried him upstairs first, and his hardened eyes locked on to Max's with a silent question for orders. Evidently, Michael had also fallen victim to old instincts, but Max didn't bother mentioning it. Instead, he pointed at Tess' room, "It's coming from in there," was all he got out before Kyle's desperate sounding voice jumpstarted him back into action.

The sight that met him and the others as they barreled through the open doorway momentarily froze Max, his eyes struggling to take in and understand what was going on in front of him.

Tess was on her knees, screaming bloody murder, her face a horrid mass of vivid red, still leaking blood, scratches that originated from around her eye sockets. Her fingertips and nails were painted red and spoke as to what had happened.

Kyle was crouching behind the curly-haired girl, struggling to keep her hands away from her self-mutilated face, his mouth by her ear as he tried calling her back to the real world with little effect.

No one moved for a long second, the silence only broken by Tess' increasingly hoarse screaming, and, in the end, it was Liz that broke ranks first and ran to Tess and Kyle's sides.

"W-What happened?" Isabel asked, her arm on a white-faced Alex's arm as he stood completely still with a frown on his face. Judging from his expression, Max figured that he was trying to calm Tess down, but without any luck.

Kyle cursed in pain, when Tess unexpectedly head butted him, too lost in her own world of… whatever it was. "I don't know. We were talking and kissing one minute and the next she turned into this!"

Max nearly lost his balance when Maria pushed past him and joined Liz in trying to calm Tess. Max only hoped they would manage where Kyle failed. He watched Liz and wondered whether her innate hatred for Tess had been crushed by the friendship she'd build with the blonde before regaining her old self.

For Tess' sake, Max thought, keeping his distance until he was needed, let's hope it's the latter…

In the next second, though, Max didn't quite know what to think, when Liz suddenly shoved Kyle away and slapped Tess twice in quick succession with her still tear-stained face set in a fierce scowl.

Tess' POV

The throb from the slaps managed to shock Tess' mind back into a somewhat working order, and she blinked rapidly. The first thing she realized was that her entire face was hurting, and she had a fleeting memory of being responsible for it herself, so she quickly pushed that aside.

Instead, her focus turned to the one who'd had the audacity to actually strike her. Surprisingly, her eyes met Liz's and once again Tess had a weird feeling that Liz had changed in ways that she couldn't even begin to comprehend – especially since her own mind was still trying to come to terms with whatever it was that had made her snap so violently.

"Snap out of it," Liz's tone was cool, but her eyes carried a hint of softness that told Tess that change or not, her friend was still somewhere inside and ready to comfort her. "What happened?"

At the question, Tess closed her eyes and turned her head to the side, not yet capable of fully understanding what she'd seen or felt. Her avoidance didn't stop Liz from grabbing her face and turning it back.

"Trust me," Liz's tone carried weariness, bitterness and amusement all at the same time, "there's nothing you can say that'll shock me."

"Come on," Liz urged softly, her hand pushing her curls out of her face, "whatever it is, it'll feel better to talk about it."

"I…" Tess began, looking over at Kyle's still worried face, and stopped when she saw the blood from his nose. "What—"

"Never mind this," Kyle brusquely interrupted, softening his words with a small smile, "it's you I'm worried about."

"Well," Tess took a deep breath, "when I kissed Kyle something happened. Something that I wasn't prepared for, nor did any of it make sense." Another inhaling of air, and the calming waves sent to her from Kyle, coupled with Liz's almost unnatural serenity, gave Tess the strength to continue. "Now that I think about it, I remember Nasedo mentioning something like this, but only vaguely because he'd never experienced it himself…I saw…I mean, when we kissed, there were these images, but they didn't make sense at all and—!"

Tess broke off as she began to shout again, fighting for her control. Just as she thought that she'd dive back into the chaos, another rush of peace came at her. Out of the corner of her eye, Tess saw Alex stare at her with a very concentrated look on his face, and she managed to give a smile that looked more like a grimace in thanks for his assistance.

Finding her equilibrium again, Tess looked back at Liz, whose expression had turned stiff at her words. "D-Do you know what that means, Liz?" she asked and added, "have you experienced that too, with Max I mean?"

"Okay, I think maybe us Czechoslovakians need to talk for a minute," Michael's voice interjected quickly before Liz could give an answer, and Tess would probably have glared at him if her eyes hadn't hurt so much.

"Well," Maria's tone wasn't quite as cold as the arctic, but to Tess' ears, it was pretty damn close as she watched her friend turn around from her kneeling position in front of her to look up at Michael, "Czech or not, Tess is our friend, in fact, not to sound childish, but she was our friend before any of you even bothered to talk with her, so we'll go when—"

"We'll be right outside, Michael." Liz talked over Maria, and Tess saw the other blond sputter indignantly like an engine that ran out of gas. "Come on, Maria. I need a shower anyway; maybe you could help me find some clean clothes, because this blood is never coming out and I don't need the reminder of what happened…"

Tess, and the rest of them, watched how Liz masterfully manipulated Maria by subtlety reminding her of her recent injuries and near death, distracting her from any anger toward Michael in a matter of seconds.

Maria was up and holding on to Liz's uncast arm, half-way dragging her out the door in a blink of an eye. She ordered Alex to come too, because powers or not, he was still human. Tess almost didn't catch the words that Liz muttered as she passed Michael, but she had no idea why those words would cause the large male to pale instantly and look after her disappearing form with widened, disbelieving eyes before turning to Max, who merely shrugged with a secretive smirk.

Tess frowned, tiredly leaning back against Kyle, whose warmth indicated that he was right behind her. What's so special about, 'Oh, Mike – even after all these years, you just never learn, do you?' He looks like he's seen a ghost?

Isabel walked over and quietly closed the door after the human trio's exit, while Max and Michael made their way over to Tess and Kyle. Max's hands were already glowing softly as he reached out to her face, and Tess couldn't quite repress the sigh of relief that came when the deep scratches quickly closed up, and the stinging around her wounded eyes vanished as if never there in the first place.

As soon as Max finished, Tess had to reach out to keep him from toppling over.

"Max!" Michael was by his side on the floor immediately, and Tess watched with baited breath as her former husband shook his head and rubbed his eyes roughly. "I'm fine," he muttered, leaning toward the bed for support, "I've just overexerted myself, not rested enough after everything."

Tess' guilt flared up, and it was only Kyle's wave of soothing comfort through their bond that stopped her from apologizing. And there's the fact that Max will probably just look at me like I'm crazy for wanting him to wait to heal me until he's fit again – completely ignoring the fact that he can heal me just as well tomorrow after a decent nights sleep…

"Tess?"

Michael's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she flinched a little, knowing what he wanted to know. How can I even begin to explain, when I don't get what happened myself?

Fortunately for Tess, it seemed like it didn't matter that she understood zilch, because judging from the way they all looked at her, they seemed to know exactly what was going on.

"This better be good," Tess stated after a long minute of tense silence. Michael looked to Max, who looked at Kyle still sitting behind her. "Please, tell me what's going on, those images I saw –hateful Kyle asking Michael why he hadn't killed her yet – they make no sense…"

"Fine," Max sighed, leaning his head backwards on the bed. "I'll tell you everything. Just promise us that you'll stay seated until I'm finished. It's a pretty long story."

"O-Okay," Tess hesitantly promised, suppressing the urge to take Kyle's arms and wrap them around her body. She tried to tell herself it would be to keep her from running away, but she really knew she just wanted the comfort of his warmth and love. "I'm listening."

Max opened his mouth and spilled everything. Tess' entire worldview crumbled in the process.

Liz's POV

Liz didn't say much while Maria helped find some clothes and guided her to the shower where Max had had his mini-meltdown. She listened to the grumblings from Maria and the comments from Alex as if she was in another world.

Which coincidentally, I kinda am, Liz thought tiredly, forcing a smile to her friends before closing and locking the bathroom-door. Quickly stripping down, Liz wrapped a plastic bag around her cast, turned on the water and stepped in as soon as the steam started forming in the air.

She robotically cleaned herself and washed her hair twice, all the while watching with a detached feeling as the dried blood on her skin fizzled down the drain leaving a gory trail of red until more water drowned it out. In that moment, Liz finally gave up her struggle, the struggle she had fought ever since Tess' scream had interrupted her from breaking down fully at the news about Serena.

Her breathing got harder, as she tried stemming the pain that seemed to build up inside her chest and paralyze her with memories of Serena. The pressure of her grief was choking her from the inside, and Liz wanted nothing more than to be able to blink away the growing burn in her eyes, to stop what she knew deep down was unstoppable.

Within seconds, tears took the place of the blood in being washed away by the pouring water, but it brought with it no relief. Liz just kept on crying, images of the pretty little brunette child that she'd, at times, considered her own, playing in a loop in her head.

"Why, Rena?" she hiccupped, venting her anger and frustration by smashing her cast clad arm into the tiled wall in front of her.

Max's concern and comforting emotions slammed into her, and Liz bit her lip when she felt like laughing hysterically. Being with Max again, seeing everyone alive and well, is what I need to focus on. Max said Rena wanted this, so I'll have to respect it no matter what…

Sighing heavily, Liz stepped out of the shower and got dressed in a matter of minutes, all the while sending back enough to Max to stop him from bursting through the door in his worry. She forced back the natural disgust she got from putting on her dirty clothes again, but she didn't have anything clean to wear and she didn't want to bother any of her friends to help her. When she finished, Liz straightened her shoulders and unlocked the door. I'm here now and life will be better than before, she told herself.

And, Liz added as she exited the bathroom, at least this time around I won't have Tess to worry about. It was weird for the brunette to actually consider a person she'd spent more than a decade hating with every fiber of her being a friend, a good friend nonetheless.

Ever since she'd locked eyes with Tess on the battlefield, dying from her brutal injury, Liz had felt her hatred begin to drizzle away. She'd pushed the subject aside, choosing to focus on Max and their conversation until she'd seen a horrified Tess in Kyle's arms on the floor. After that, the young Liz's feelings for the curly-haired blonde surged to the surface and she'd immediately jumped into the fray to help Tess.

"It's still a little weird, though," Liz whispered to herself, only to flinch when Maria's voice asked her what she was talking about.

"Um, nothing, I'm just talking to myself," Liz replied, sending a small glare at Alex, who was looking at her funny. I guess his powers are picking things up, she thought and barely resisted the urge to jump him in a fierce hug. The older part of her just wanted to stare at the friend she'd lost so long ago and so unfairly too, while the rest of her just wanted to be left alone.

But I can't, Liz thought and dragged Maria away from Tess' closed bedroom door when it seemed like she wanted nothing more than to loiter around within earshot. I have to stop Maria and Alex from knowing anything about our other life so their minds don't explode like it seems like Tess' did…

0o0o0

A half an hour later had Liz feeling a little more positive and overall appreciative of all the good things coming back from the dead and into the past was actually worth. She was smiling at the banter between Maria and Alex that sprouted to life moments ago, where Maria couldn't stop herself from teasing the teenage boy about not wearing a shirt in front of ladies.

Of course, Alex had replied, "which ladies," and Liz just sat back and watched the nostalgic sight unfold. She was so invested in staring at her friends, remembering the good times that she didn't notice when both of them stopped talking and turned to stare back at her.

"Are you okay, Liz?" Alex asked, his eyes narrowed with concern. Liz nodded her head yes, and tried to change the subject back to him and Maria.

"I guess I was just so distracted by your body that I couldn't help myself."

"Ha!" Maria slapped Alex's arm with a beaming grin, "I told ya, I'm not the only one who thinks you're adorable, Whitman."

"I'm not adorable," Alex pouted, his eyes dancing with amusement, "I'm manly."

"Oh yeah, you're all man." Isabel's voice distracted the group of friends and they turned as one to look up at the tall, beautiful girl, whose eyes were fixed on Alex and a smile that lit up her face.

"Aaaand that's too much information for me," Maria quipped and got to her feet, while Liz silently eyed the former princess cautiously. Judging from the way Isabel's eyes kept falling on her, plus the confused frown on Alex's face when he started looking between his girlfriend and Liz, she had definitely decoded the words that Liz had spoken to Michael earlier and figured out the truth.

"Could I get a minute with Isabel, Guys?" Liz asked, deciding to just get the reunion over and done with. "I need help with some Dreamwalking in the future," she added when Maria seemed to want to object. "I may need it for nightmares and stuff because of the battle."

Comprehension and sympathy dawned on Maria's face, just as Liz knew it would and after a quick, but a little too tight hug, the blonde walked out. Alex hesitated, looking between the two young women.

"I know you're hiding something," he blurted out and Liz had to work extra hard to keep herself from cringing- still not at all used to the unexpected powers he'd gotten. "But I trust you both, and just hope that whatever it is you'll return that trust someday."

His ability to make me feel guilty seems to be as intact as ever, Liz thought and watched silently as Alex briefly pecked Isabel on the cheek before leaving them to their privacy.

"So you're back too?" Isabel blurted out after a few seconds of awkward tension, and Liz had to smile.

"Yeah. From what you're saying I figure Kyle's back too, right?" Liz watched Isabel's eyes widen and then narrow at her words and hurried to explain. "It makes a lot of sense from what I've discovered so far compared to what me and S-Se…Compared to what we found out in the past but I'll tell you the rest at a better time."

"Okay," Isabel whispered. Her eyes suddenly glassy-looking at the near mention of Serena and then she rushed over and enveloped Liz in a hug that could rival Maria's in tightness.

Liz could feel her sister-in-law tremble around her and didn't object in the least to the hug. Instead, she too put her arms around Isabel and just enjoyed being able to touch one of her best friends for the first time in what felt like eternity, sharing her deep grief with someone that understood just how close she'd been to Serena.

Liz didn't know how long she stood with her arms around Isabel, but it was long enough for a fragile sense of calm to engulf her, at long last managing to –momentarily at least – stop all her tumultuous thoughts.

It was the sense of Max drawing closer that clued her in that it had been a while, and she began pulling away from the embrace until Isabel suddenly grabbed her again and whispered in her ear, "Losing you nearly killed him, Liz. Please help me heal the part of him that died with you, before he breaks."

Liz glanced to the side and met Max's gaze, he was looking pale and unbelievably exhausted, but all of his focus was one hundred percent on her. "I will," she whispered back and stepped out of the hug, "I'll do everything I can so we can all heal again, I promise."

"Heal? Do you need healing?" Max oozed worry as he walked the short distance from the door to the two of them, looking between them. "Why didn't you say so, Isabel?"

"Whoa, hold up," Isabel held up her hands and backed away with a small smile on her lips, "emotional healing, and not healing. Stop listening in on other people's thoughts by the way. I just needed to talk to Liz and now that that is done, I'm gonna go back down and feed the hungry masses, 'cause we all know aside from Michael, I'm the only one able to produce edible food in this house."

She's still got some of her old fire in her, Liz thought with a smile of her own. Despite everything that's happened she always tried keeping the mood up…but I'm glad that her eyes seem happier in this life, she added fondly before Max spoke and distracted her from her own thoughts.

"Want to go for a walk outside in Tess' backyard?"

Liz eyed her once and future husband with a frown. "You look ready to drop any second now, Max," she stated as she walked over to him and began leading the way to the bedroom they'd been assigned. Her small cool hand wrapped in Max's much larger and warmer one, subconsciously needing to touch him as much as possible.

"You're going to sleep and when you wake up, Izzie or Mike will make you something to eat and you'll eat it without complaint, am I clear?"

"Yes, Dear." Max saluted and let Liz sit him down on the edge of the bed and bemusedly allowed her to take his shoes off.

A moment later, he was clad only in his boxers and under the covers and Liz unceremoniously began taking off her shoes, pants and socks and trying not to cringe at the dried blood and grime on the socks in particular. After a brief internal debate, she decided to keep her relatively bra and undershirt on and crawled into the bed to join him.

Soon the two of them were snuggled up tightly and just basking in being together. Liz's mood was tainted with the knowledge of Serena's fate though and she quietly asked Max to fill her in on what her younger self hadn't been able to grasp until now, and with a small sigh, he did as she asked.

Twenty minutes later, after so many stories, Liz just laid there, staring up at the ceiling. After a while, she turned her head and looked at him. "For what it's worth, I really appreciate you trying to change our future and from what I can gather, you've taken care of the major points so that's great…"

"But?" Max leaned his head in his hand as he turned to the side and stared right back at her.

Liz barely swallowed a smile, suddenly just too excited to be where she was and without a devastating war in sight to not be a little happy. She didn't want to think about serious stuff anymore so she decided to mess with Max a little, "But," she continued, "now that I'm back, maybe you should leave the planning of things to me 'cause my plans used to work…"

Her words had the reaction she wanted. Max mock-gasped with offence and pounced, tickling her all over to get her to say uncle. "Max Evans is a master strategist," Max said, tickling her sides ruthlessly, "he's not too bad-looking either. Say it, Max is superior to Liz all the time."

"N-Ne-Never!" Liz barely managed to gasp out between giggles, enjoying the moment all the more because Max seemed to gain strength from listening to her laugh.

Then things suddenly changed. From one moment to the next, Max's lips was on hers and they were eagerly sending whatever they were feeling through their bond, more desperate than ever to reconnect completely.

"God, I love you," Max groaned and roughly pulled off her T-shirt and bra, eying her with loving eyes that made Liz weak in the knees. "Don't ever leave me again, I love you so much," he repeated and began kissing his way down her collarbone to her breasts and it didn't take long before Liz was completely lost to her emotions and desires.

0o0o0

It was a slightly ruffled Liz that eventually emerged from the bedroom, leaving a near comatose Max behind to finally get some of the rest he so severely needed.

Especially now, Liz smirked to herself and made her way downstairs to find everyone gathered in Tess' living room. They looked more or less as tired as she felt, so Liz simply waved and squeezed in next to Michael, who had a sleeping Maria leaning on his shoulder and Tess, who looked pale and worried as her eyes kept jumping from Kyle to Alex.

They all sat in silence for a few minutes, before Liz snuck a glance at Maria and decided to take a chance to just get things out in the open between the others there. "So," she quietly said, looking around at everyone, evidently distracting Isabel and Alex from a telepathic conversation if their flinching was anything to go by, "Max told me that everyone here but Maria knows the truth about the time travelling. He told me what happened after I died, so I'm covered. I just want you all to know that like Kyle I've gotten my memories of that life back too."

"So you hate me again?" Tess whispered, sounding nothing like the confident girl Liz had known in her first life, let alone like the close friend she'd found in her during this timeline. "Because I…" here her eyes darted to a sad, but understanding – looking Alex, "because I killed Alex."

"No," Liz immediately replied, feeling secure in her answer and even leaned to the side a little and gave the blonde a small arm rub. "I don't, Tess. You're my friend and that's all I care about at the moment. I've lost too many of those in my life to ever take one for granted."

Tess smiled, and Michael spoke up next, "I knew it! You're the only one that ever called me 'Mike'." He paused and then added with a fake glower, "I still hate that, you know."

"I know," was all Liz said and turned to face Alex and Isabel on the other couch, while ignoring the slight pain that her earlier activities had cost her with an inwardly grimace. "We need to talk about everything later, but we've got school tomorrow from what I remember so let's just meet up in the music room at four to talk without Maria finding out."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Maria's said suddenly, and she sat up in one fluid motion, staring harshly at them all. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm the last one to know something really important here? You better tell me because I'm about to freak out like I've never done before, okay?"

Liz looked at Michael, who looked sheepish at not keeping better watch on Maria's bond hearing so she wouldn't hear what she wasn't ready for. "Um…"

"Don't even think about spinning some bull crap line, Liz Parker!" Maria bellowed and jumped to her feet, "I really need to know why you came down here babbling about time travel and what the hell do you mean by us dying and Tess killing Alex? Talk or so help me; I'm walking out that door and never coming back!" Her eyes were on Michael as she spoke the last words and Liz knew her best friend enough to know she meant every word.

Why can't anything ever be simple? Liz thought, biting her lip and closing off a huge part of her connection to Max to keep from disturbing his much needed sleep. Maybe Max was right and he's the better strategist after all…

TBC…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for any and all comments and hopefully you liked it! Big hugz!
> 
> Until Next Time


	35. Michael and Maria

Michael's POV

It was in the middle of the night and their camp was silent – except for Kyle's soft snores from ten feet away, indicating he was exhausted after his watch.

Michael smirked, vowing to tease the human about it before turning his alert eyes back out on to their surroundings, keeping a vigilant watch. The smirk had vanished almost as fast as it had appeared; a feat that was nowhere near unusual anymore. None of them smiled much these days…

A moment later, he heard soft footsteps approaching and his bond thrummed as she drew closer. Frowning a little, Michael turned his head in the direction he could feel Maria coming from and waited silently. She hardly ever slept these days, but when he'd left her, she'd been fast asleep and he'd sort of hoped that it'd stay that way for a few more hours.

"Hey, Babe," he greeted Maria, who in turn gave a mere twitch of a smile. The sad thing was that it was the best she could manage these days – especially after their last fight with Khivar's men, where she'd been forced to use her power and in return now suffered from massive nightmares that echoed through to Michael, making him realize just how much his wife suffered in silence.

Without saying anything, she sat down next to him, huddling up to his larger body to get some warmth. Michael unceremoniously bent down took a small pebble and quickly transformed it into a soft blanket – something he and Max had begun to do early on in their war to keep from carrying too many bags in times of flight.

"Here," he softly offered and placed the blanket around his wife's bony shoulders,only for her to shrug it off and roughly place a part of the blanket over his shoulders, essentially cocooning them in their own little world of growing warmth.

"I want you to know," Maria said, after a few minutes of comfortable silence where Michael easily split his attention between his wife and surveilling the area, "that I love you more than anything. I love you so much that I just want to bask in the glory of it sometimes because the knowledge and security of our love is what's keeping me going most days."

Michael's heart stuttered with a growing dread, but expertly pushed it back, knowing that Maria wouldn't appreciate feeling his fear. "What brought this on?" he asked instead, gripping her tighter in the process as if making sure she wasn't about to vanish into thin air.

Maria sighed and wearily placed her head on his shoulder. "I just wanted you to know in case…I just wanted to know that you know without a shadow of a doubt that I love you. I don't show it all that much anymore, and these days you're more my caregiver than my husband and I know you've felt the brunt of my resentment for all of the weirdness that's happened to me over the years, but…"

Michael swallowed a lump of pure fear and looked down on his wife when he felt her turn her head toward him. The look in her eyes would give him nightmares for a long time. It was pure sadness, love, determination and bone-crushing exhaustion that met his eyes as Maria quietly finished, "I just need you to know that I love you, Michael. That's all."

Michael kissed the top of Maria's blonde head and did what he did best, ignored the feeling that something was completely wrong with his wife who was usually so strong and said the only thing he could think of, "I love you too, Baby."

Three weeks later, Michael was painstakingly digging his wife's grave by hand after she'd made him unable to follow her as she went with Liz to save Max – no amount of love stopping her from leaving him behind...

A car honked right outside of his window and Michael abruptly woke up with a startling clarity in his head, even as the last wisps of his dream-memory faded away into the nothingness he stored his memories at while awake.

It wasn't new to him to find himself waking up with another dream of the shadow of Maria that she'd become in their other life. He'd dreamt about her every night for two weeks, ever since she'd stormed out of Tess' house with Liz and Alex running after her.

With a heavy sigh, Michael sat up, rubbing a hand through his hair – A quick look around told him that Kyle hadn't come back that night either, preferring to stay with Tess apparently.

Not that I blame the guy, Michael thought as he made his way to the bathroom to get ready for school. If I had the opportunity I'd do the same in a heartbeat.

Fifteen minutes later, Michael locked his crappy apartment's door behind him and walked the short distance to Max and Isabel's house.

As he neared his family's home, Michael watched with a mixture of fond amusement and crushing jealousy as Max exited the Evans' front door with his cell phone at his ear and an unusually large smile on his face. Isabel followed with an equally happy expression plastered on her face and Michael had to use all of his strength to wipe the small sneer of his face when she looked away from her brother and noticed Michael waiting for them.

"Michael, hey!" She greeted, and brushed past her brother, who sent a casual wave Michael's way before refocusing on his conversation with who Michael had no doubt was Liz.

Isabel reached him, and when her smile began to falter, Michael realized he wasn't looking as unaffected as he wanted, so he forced a small twitch on his lips, not wanting to spoil their happiness just because his own love life was in the dumps at the moment.

"Still no word from her, huh?" Isabel asked, barreling right past all of Michael's carefuly setup (of)delete walls. She's always been too good at reading me, he thought tiredly and just nodded mutely, before making his way to the Jeep where Max was now waiting, the cell phone blissfully nowhere in sight.

"Let's just go, okay?"

To his climbing frustration, Michael soon realized that Max wasn't going to honor his request and put on a scowl just for his friend. "What?"

Max ran a hand through his hair and just gave him that deep and soulful look that meant he was getting ready to breach the area that involved feelings and Michael was not in the mood for it. Straightening up, he all but growled silently for a second and then threw out his ultimatum, "Start the car and take us to school, or I'm getting out and finding something better to do today. It's not like I actually need to be there to graduate or anything…"

The part of him that was connected with Maria screamed out in fear, not in the least bit willing to forego any small chance he had of laying eyes on her that day, but outwardly, Michael stayed firm and calm, waiting for Max to make his move.

Another long moment went by, before Max sighed heavily and started the engine without a single word. Isabel looked like she didn't know whether to roll her eyes or give him a comforting pat on the back. Fortunately for Michael's strenuous hold on his temper, she did neither and just leaned back and watched the scenery pass by as they finally made their way to the school.

0o0o0

A few hours later, Michael was downright twitching with agitation. He'd suffered through two boring classes with Max and Isabel's searching and pitying eyes throughout it all. And now I've gotta suffer through another with a fucking empathy queen.

The glare he sent in Alex's direction when the lanky teen walked up to the empty seat next to him stopped him mid-step. It took another student's push from behind to finally get him moving again.

Inwardly, Michael enjoyed the fact that underneath everything, Alex's respect and or fear of him still ruled him every now and again. The part of him that wanted to remind Michael that his human friend hadn't even said anything and he really shouldn't be such a jerk was firmly pushed aside with a metaphorical beat down.

Alex's half-smile interrupted Michael's internal battle and he couldn't keep his damn emotions from being all curious, which led to Alex actually opening his mouth.

"Dude," he whispered, just as the teacher entered, "the feelings you're going through right now are worse than the entire women's softball team on PMS…Just putting it out there."

"Shut up," was the brilliant reply that Michael managed before the teacher cleared his throat and forced them to – if not pay attention to him then at least keep quiet for the next little while.

When the period ended, Alex hurried to his feet and stepped in front of Michael before he even finished throwing his stuff back in to his bag. "Don't start," Michael ordered, suddenly having extreme difficulty with keeping his emotions in check.

"Whoa asshole, move it so the trailer trash doesn't infect us normal people," a voice drawled mockingly, and Michael had to use all his already limited patience to not turn around and clock the speaker, who he'd immediately recognized as Johnny, Kyle's former jock-friend.

To his great surprise, and everyone else present as well, Alex was the one who reacted to the childish taunt, and with a lot more anger than he'd ever done when it came to his own mockery.

"Keep your mouth shut, Johnny-boy before I shut it for you!"

The picture of the taller Alex, all but snarling at the stockier Johnny – coupled with the instinctive submissive moving back a few steps that everyone immediately did – made Michael want to smile a little.

Who knew that underneath everything, Alex is a badass, Michael thought, grinning a little when a memory of the teenage boy hitting him once upon a time flew into his mind, oh, right; I kinda already knew that…

"Dude, chill out, Man," Johnny mumbled, after a long moment of hesitation. He nodded to his friends and they all quickly made a beeline for the door, obviously choosing wisely for once in their lives.

"That was sort of awesome," Michael admitted, slinging his bag over his shoulder, deciding to stay.

Alex looked a little chagrined, his good-natured persona slowly drifting back into his expression. "Yeah, sorry about that," he ran a hand through his hair sheepishly, "I guess you projected a little too much for a second there. But I'll admit it was kinda nice finally saying something to that jerk. He's a bully, you know."

Remembering how the jock had cornered him in the computer lab a few months earlier, trying to humiliate him came to Michael and he just shrugged, "Yeah, he's a douche. Look, I'm not really interested in talking about serious crap today." Or ever, his subconscious added sourly, but Alex merely smiled.

"I knew you'd say that and I totally respect it, so that's why I'm just gonna invite you to the quad for lunch with Isabel and I…and Max and Liz…And Kyle and Tess…"

"Right, couple central," Michael muttered, feeling trapped because the last thing he needed was another reminder that he was the odd man out. He'd felt that way all through his original schooling, so he wasn't really into a repeat performance in front of his friends and family. "I was gonna…err, go to the library and—"

Alex interrupted quickly, "Don't lie, I honestly don't think you even know where that place is," he barely dodged a punch to the shoulder for that remark and continued on with a small smile, "but seriously, Michael, we want you there, you're a part of the group and even though there's a little hiccup right now with Maria, you shouldn't be alone. Especially when you're hurting and I know that better than anyone, so don't even try another lie."

Michael fidgeted a little uncomfortably, picking at a loose thread on his backpag to avoid looking at his friend. A few minutes went by in awkward silence until Michael said the only thing he could at the moment, "your powers suck, you know that?"

Alex grinned, "Absolutely. Now come on, Isabel's mom packed a huge lunch for her today and she promised to share and I'm starving."

Rolling his eyes in defeat, Michael listlessly followed, trying not to look for Maria with each passing step.

It didn't take many minutes before Michael had to fake an urgent need for the bathroom. He didn't need Alex's powers to feel the sheer happiness and contentment that his friends were giving off. It made him a little nauseous and he had to get away before he threw a fit or did something as idiotic and out of character as breaking down into tears, begging for them to help him get Maria back into his life before he lost his ever-loving mind completely.

He was followed by Max, whose bladder mysteriously seemed in need of release the exact same time Michael got up to leave. Fortunately, for Michael's peace of mind, the former king was wise enough not to say anything, but he did send his fair share of concerned looks on the way to the toilets.

Michael was so busy trying to ignore Max's looks, while battling a severe longing to smack him in the head, that he didn't immediately notice Maria was a mere fifteen feet away from him.

He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and automatically looked in the direction to gauge any and all threats as he always did after his experiences with the war, only to lock eyes with a cold-faced Maria.

She looks angry, Michael thought, unable to look away even for a second as he tried processing what that meant. I can't feel her anger right now, but she looks pissed off at me…Has she cut the bond? Michael's instant wave of horror at the mere thought of their connection being damaged in any way must have travelled over to Maria's side, because she suddenly flinched a little and the resentful expression was mixed with a little bit of confusion and worry.

"Oh thank God," Michael whispered, sending as much love and comfort as he could, taking the opportunity to let his love know that no matter what she believed Maria was – and would always be – everything to him.

Sadly it seemed that the message wasn't well received. Maria's expression closed off again within seconds, and with one last scathing look at him and an even worse one for Max, she turned in the opposite direction and left without saying a word. It was as if they were now completely beneath her. The pain of rejection rushed through Michael, and he all but crumbled to the floor.

Max slid down next to him, talking loudly about something inane to draw the interest away from the unusual behavior of the school's loner, "I'm sorry." He said after a little while of silence.

Michael just shrugged, discreetly wiping at his eyes to see if any wayward tears had managed to leak out of his eyes despite his best efforts. "Don't be," he replied with a heavy sigh. "I get her reaction; I just have to give her some time to process."

The two brothers sat quietly together for another long moment until Liz came looking for them. Again, Michael had to fight off that part of him that was more or less howling with jealousy at the sight of pure, innocent joy that lit up Max and Liz's faces as soon as they were near each other.

They deserve to be happy, Michael forcibly reminded himself, Max hasn't smiled like that since before Liz died to save him. Stop being an ass, Guerin and be happy for your best friend's good luck, 'cause you know you don't really want that shadow that Maria was to come back to this time. She'll break or probably go insane just by being around all this teenage angst. And on top of that your temper can't handle that kind of Maria again, she'll just end up leaving you in the end like she did before…

Michael sent his surroundings a glare as if just being in a high school was offensive to his sensibilities all of the sudden. Liz's voice brought him back to the present and he looked up at her when she came to a stop in front of Max.

"Did you guys talk to Maria?"

Next to him, Max shook his head and the concentrated look on his face, coupled with the look of dawning realization on Liz's expression told Michael that Max was bringing her up to speed on what had just happened.

"I'm not weak," Michael blurted out, interrupting whatever moment the two lovers were sharing, "I don't need you guys to keep an eye on me all the time. I'm just gonna give Maria her space and eventually she'll be pissed off enough to confront me or you guys and things will smooth themselves out again."

Max got to his feet, holding out a hand to hoist him up while Liz crossed her arms and looked seriously at him. "Michael," she began quietly, "I know I'm still a little wobbly since merging completely with my old self, but I do know some things and what's more important, my friend, I know you. There's no doubt in my mind that you're just as mad at Maria these days, or at least getting there."

"Mad?" Michael scoffed, grabbing the handle on his bag and slung it back onto his shoulders, "what do I have to be mad about? I'm not the one that's been lied to and/or kept in the dark. Like I said, I get where she's coming from and I'll respect her wishes until she's ready. I'd appreciate it if you all did the same."

Liz smiled, the mature edge to it looking completely at odds with the youth of her features. "Don't try and con me, Mike. I've known you a long time, and I've known Maria forever. I remember our past life now, don't forget that. I was there during the days of Maria's depression and I know what it did to you. You can't tell me that there aren't some residual emotions there in the face of her reaction now? If you even try, I could always bring in Alex for a more in depth analysis."

The dream that he'd had just that morning seeped into the forefront of Michael's mind, and he gritted his teeth. For the first time, he truly hating the fact that the Liz from their original lives was back. She's always known me too well…

"Liz, just leave me alone. I'm dealing with enough right now, without you Dr. Philing me," Michael ordered, brusquely pushing past Max, making his way to the exit. He'd had enough of school and well-meaning friends for one day.

I don't know what she's talking about, he thought, all but jogging down the steps to the parking lot, I'm not mad at Maria. I understand her better than anyone, and unlike the rest of them I'm gonna wait until she's ready to come to me for explanations. I'm not gonna risk ruining the only chance of happiness I've got left. I'm not mad at Maria…

Michael turned in the direction of his apartment and firmly ignored the tiny part of him that didn't quite believe his own statement.

Maria's POV

"Maria…"

The voice and the person it belonged to no longer got any kind of response, but it didn't make it stop.

"Maaarrriiiaaaa…."

Maria took a deep breath and calmly continued on with her work, taking finished orders from José and delivering them without even once acknowledging the annoyance that was Liz, who was sticking to her like glue.

"Here you go, Sir," Maria put on her fake happy-to-serve-expression, dumped the plate in front of her customer and turned to take a new order from a young couple that had just walked in. Liz followed her, once again calling for her to reply. It took everything in the blonde not to throw her order-pad in her best friend's face.

Except, Maria thought, absentmindedly greeting the new customers, I can't really call her that anymore, now can I? She's not the same Liz I grew up with anymore – she's someone else that I can't even begin to grasp the complexities of and so are Mi…So are all the other Czechoslovakians and I don't like it any more now than when I first found out.

Remembering how she'd found out the truth about all the secrets that had been kept from her, Maria had to work extra hard to keep a scowl from appearing on her face. I think, she thought as she hurried over to José with her new order, expertly ignoring Liz in the process, that's what hurts the most. Not the secrets themselves, but the way I found out about them. They only told me 'cause I accidentally heard it, they weren't going to tell me anything originally and that's not what friends do. Friends share."

"Maria?"

Jeff Parker's voice cut through Maria's thoughts and she flinched, almost spilling her tray of sodas on her boss. "What?"

Judging from the small cringe the only father-figure in her life couldn't quite keep off his face, Maria realized that she'd all but growled at him. With a little more effort, Maria managed to put on a half-way sincere smile on her lips and looked up at her boss more closely.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Parker. What did you want? I'm kinda busy right now; there are a lot of orders to be taken and so many ketchup bottles to refill."

Mr. Parker nodded, but he still had an air of confusion around him, so Maria stayed put, sending a glare of epic proportions to the side behind him where Liz was just standing with an expression that told its clear tale of her being a lot older than she looked. That's another thing that keeps creeping me out, Maria decided, barely forcing back a shudder of unease, she's way older than me – it's like she could be a friend of my mom's instead of me. I don't get why she just doesn't leave me alone and let me stay miserable and betrayed.

"Look," Mr. Parker's voice cut through all of Maria's bubbling anger and despair and she quickly looked back up at her employer when he continued solemnly, "I've noticed that lately, you and my daughter are going through some things. I can't fault your effort here at work, quite the opposite in fact," he grinned a little, but hurried on seriously when he was met with the blank stare of the angry teenager. "But, I've known you practically your whole life and I don't like seeing you like this. So…emotional."

Maria couldn't keep her glare from reigniting at his words, and she angrily put her tray down on the nearest table and then crossed her armsbefore softly speaking again, "Me being emotional or not isn't the problem in question here," Mr. Parker subtly took a step backwards, clearly able to sense his impending doom if he didn't, "the problem is Liz and the way she's acted lately. I don't like being lied to and if you don't think I'm handling things well despite my "emotions", I just have one more thing to say …I quit."

With those words, Maria promptly teared off her antennas and all but threw them at Mr. Parker before storming into the backroom to clear out her locker and change into her own clothes.

Fuming, and feeling exceedingly close to tears of fury, Maria wasted no time at all undressing, throwing her uniform at the couch with all her might. She ignored the confused looks from Agnes and Isabel, who'd both been interrupted in the middle of changing into their uniforms for their own shifts when she'd barged in.

Considering how long Maria had worked at the Crashdown, it took a pathetically short while to gather her meager belongings. So short in fact, that she'd already finished and turned to leave when Liz finally made her appearance.

"Maria!"

Without missing a beat, Maria ignored Liz's call and just jogged out the backdoor and into the alley to the street where she continued in a brisk walk toward her place. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Liz would come after her, and Maria preferred as much distance between them as she could manage.

She was so absorbed in escaping her best friend– former best friend, the bitter part of her pointed out coldly - that she didn't notice where she was going and a moment later, Maria walked straight into someone.

The strength of the collision made Maria tumble backwards awkwardly, and she would've fallen completely on her back if it weren't for two strong hands darting out to grab her mid-fall.

The second the touch connected from Maria's skin to her brain, she didn't even have to look up to recognize who'd saved her from making a fool out of herself.

"Let go of me, Michael," she growled, already ripping her arms out of his grip and stepping back. Her guts were playing twister, one part of her dying to just step back into the embrace she knew he'd give her if she let him know she was longing for it. It took a little more effort than she would've liked, but eventually, Maria found her bitchy self again and raised her brow mockingly.

"Are you following me around? Don't you have more important things to worry about? I mean some sort of intergalactic shenanigan that could make Captain Kirk drool with envy or something?"

Before Michael could respond, Liz finally reached them and Maria's temper had a new target to focus on. For once she was too exhausted to care about keeping her emotions in check, too hurt to keep pretending that their lying hadn't wounded her more than anything.

The look she sent Liz must have portrayed a little of that hurt, because the brunette cringed ever so slightly, eying a stoic-looking Michael out of the corner of her eye.

"Don't look at him," Maria ordered, glaring her down, "he's not important – what's important is that you need to leave me the hell alone, Liz! I'm not interested in listening to more of your spiel about the greater good or whatever while you keep even more crap from me. I don't know if anything you'll ever say again will get me to trust you. I obviously have none of your respect."

"Now hold on—" Liz tried, but she was ruthlessly interrupted by Maria, who just scoffed and spoke over her.

"Like I said, you clearly don't respect me or my wishes otherwise you'd have listened when I asked you to leave me be the first time. So I'm just gonna say it again, leave me alone – you don't owe me anything, you're not the girl I grew up with, you're sure as hell not my best friend anymore!"

The flash of genuine hurt on Liz's face nearly made Maria sick to her stomach, but she pushed it down and turned to leave. Only, she barely made it a few steps before Michael had taken a firm, yet gentle hold of her arm again. He didn't say anything, just held her there for a few seconds before he practically barked, "We need to all calm down. Liz, call Max and the others and tell them to meet at my place 'cause this ends tonight. I'm sick of this crap and you," his eyes burned back into Maria, who was suddenly overwhelmed with the transference of his chaotic emotions through their bond and unable to get any words out at the downright domineering glower he sent her, "you're coming with me and I don't wanna hear another peep outta you until I've had my say."

The next thing she knew, Maria was being all but dragged down the street to Michael's apartment and all of her anger seemed to have been momentarily frozen inside of her as she followed along meekly.

0o0o0

I feel like my mom just caught me stealing one of her condoms, Maria thought, pretending that the awkward stares and growing tension in the room wasn't getting to her. Any minute now there's going to be a lecture of some sort, followed by a "we all love you." It's enough to make me sick to my stomach.

Maria licked her lips, not able to wholly hide her unease. Especially since Michael had yet to look at her since he'd practically dumped her on his ratty armchair. He'd sat down on the edge of the coffee-table in front of her, waiting silently for Liz to arrive with the others in tow.

It hadn't taken long, but to Maria, who was the object of Michael's smoldering stares, it had felt more or less like time without end.

"Well," Liz spoke up from her place right next to Max on the couch, "I guess we're all waiting for you now, Michael."

Michael cleared his throat, finally breaking his hold on Maria by looking over at the brunette and nodding. "Yeah."

Maria did her best to act like she wasn't the least bit interested in what he had to say, scanning the others grumpily instead. Kyle sat on the kitchen counter with Tess leaning up against his front, looking like she belonged there. The sheriff's son was unusually somber-looking and it was a little freaky since Maria still expected him to crack immature jokes to break the awkwardness in the room.

Well, she amended silently, he's not really been that jolly of a guy for a while. Especially since he got those mojo powers… Maria's eyes travelled over to Isabel and Alex, who were downright cuddling on the other end of the couch, and looking wholly unapologetic about it as well.

Max and Liz, well, Maria didn't really need to look at them to know that they were holding hands and keeping each other calm and collected through their bond. A part of Maria was able to admit that she kinda envied her friend the closeness she'd gained with the dark-haired Evans when her memories returned, but as long as she didn't say it out loud it didn't count, Maria decided and finally looked back at a serious-looking Michael.

The moment she met his gaze, Michael jumped into an explanation as if he'd only been waiting for her to look back at him.

"Ever since you found out about the truth in the way you did," Michael quickly glanced over at Liz, who was looking a little dejectedly down at the floor, clutching Max's hands in her own, "you've been a bitch."

"What?" Maria gaped, her earlier anger moving into befuddlement and she had half-raised her hand to slap her idiot sort-of boyfriend over the head when Michael continued calmly.

"It's true, Maria, but to be honest, I don't give a crap about that anymore. At first I was sorry and wanted nothing more than listen and support you through your bad days. I was ready to talk to you about everything, but you rejected not only my attempts but everyone else's as well. I get it, but things won't change back now – no matter how much you complain. Your petty jealousy is not only useless, but immature and childish too."

"Well, apparently," Maria interjected before Michael could add more fuel to her fire, "I am immature and childish compared to most of you, right? I think Liz told me you were in your late thirties or something, so basically you're ancient and I've got every right to bitch and moan like a child, because that's what I am."

Michael's expression closed off, became blank, but through their – albeit muted – bond, Maria could easily feel his growing frustration with her and for some reason she reveled in it, wanting nothing more to make him snap.

"Even though Alex and Tess," Maria looked over at them as she mentioned them, glancing briefly at Kyle as well before scowling right back at Michael, "and Kyle, sort of, are my age, they were given enough respect to learn the truth up front and without any talking down, but oh no, not me, the crazy DeLuca kid, and I wanna know why? Do you all think I'm a loose cannon, too stupid to understand the seriousness of the whole thing? That just because it took me a while to get over myself when it came to getting my own powers? Maybe they'll show up soon and then I can prove to all of you that I'm not weak!"

Inwardly, Maria was a little confused at the immediate tension her words provoked, especially in Michael and Liz. As if her with powers would be more horrible than anything else they'd faced together, and a wave of genuine hurt rushed through her at the thought that just maybe they simply didn't trust her with any of that Czechoslovakian mumbo jumbo.

Michael's next words seemed to nail the thought into her like her own insecurity hadn't quite managed yet, and for one short second, Maria wanted to cry at the injustice of it all.

"Over my dead body are you getting powers, Maria!"

"Screw you, Michael Guerin – in fact, screw all of you!" Maria practically screamed as she jumped to her feet. "Sitting there on your high horses, judging me and finding me lacking – I'm worth so much more than this crap. I don't have to take this, I'm leaving."

She didn't get more than maybe three steps, before Liz stood in front of her and Michael was etched up against her back, preventing her from getting out of the apartment and away from the sad looks of her former friends.

"Move, Liz." Maria demanded quietly, trying to adopt the cold expression she'd seen on Michael's face earlier.

"I'm sorry, Maria," Liz said, ignoring her request, "ever since you walked out of Tess' place, I've felt like a complete jerk. It hurts me that you think I don't trust you, you're everything to me, don't you know that? Even though you don't feel like it right now, I'm still Liz, I'm still the girl who helped you shoplift your first tampons because you knew your mom couldn't afford another expense that month, I'm still the girl that went back inside and paid the clerk despite your stubborn pride when you hyperventilated with guilt the second we walked out of that store. You're still my best friend, Maria. Always have been and always will be. I hope you'll see that again someday. I know that I have a lot to make up for, and I handled things wrongly, but you have to understand something too. The Maria I remember wasn't happy, and it broke our hearts every day, and we just wanted you to live as normal a life as we could manage. I'm truly sorry."

The speech made Maria's eyes burn with unshed tears, but she used all of her strength to push aside her instinctive urge to embrace Liz, making every hurtful thing between them vanish, at least for a few minutes. Instead, she just gave an awkward half-shrug and stepped around Liz toward the door without a word.

Suddenly, just as her hand reached for the door handle, Michael spun her around roughly, grabbing the sides of her face with his big, callused hands. "I'm so sick of all of this! If you wanna be included and see how great you were in the other life we had, I'm damn well gonna show you."

Out of the corner of her eye, Maria saw Isabel, Kyle and Alex lean forward with hesitation written all over them. Max just stared with disquieting calm as if he'd always known it would end like this. And then, in time with her next inhale, Maria didn't have any more opportunities to notice anything else than what Michael was ruthlessly showing her through their connection.

Images upon images rushed into her mind, burying her in a pit of relentless despair, fear and bitterness that was choking the life out of her even as she just kept standing immobile with Michael sweat-clammy hands on her pallid face.

There werebattles going on all around them, filled with screams of anger and screams of agony, and Maria knew she was seeing things through Michael's eyes – especially since he was standing behind someone that could only be her.

Her hair was in disarray.It was speckled with blood as if she'd stood in front of an exploding person at one point. Her fingers were bony and looked like they were cutting into a tall, muscular man's face as he kneeled placidly on the ground in front of her.

"No, no, no, please don't. Please stop!" the man gurgled, blood leaving his mouth in spatters as he begged and pleaded for his release. "Just kill me," he screamed and from Michael's memory Maria knew that her eyes were pure white as they stared mercilessly into the man's bleeding eyes. A moment later they unceremoniously exploded out of his face and she dropped the body seemingly without a care and turned around haphazardly and there were now tears streaking down her ashen face. "W-What happened? What did I just do?" she asked hoarsely just before passing out.

Another scene flashed by, Maria sitting quietly on the ground in some unfamiliar cave, staring at a smokeless fire without really seeing it. The plate of food in her hands remained untouched, and Liz's worried voice echoed in the cave, "You gotta eat, Maria. You're skin and bones. Please, you need to keep your strength up. Michael won't say anything, but he's scared too. Just look at him, he hasn't stopped staring at you since he gave you the food."

The sad excuse of a smile that erupted on Maria's lips was weak at best, and she quickly gave it up. "You know I'm never really hungry after using my powers," she muttered, her voice hoarse from disuse. "You can have it, Liz, if you want. I'll get something later…"

"Maria," Liz's tone was broken, but seemed to realize that the battle was lost and stepped back toward the part of the cave where she slept next to Max.

"It's okay," Maria muttered, meeting her husband's gaze, "I'm okay, Spaceboy – Just getting used to the awesome power I've got. Go to sleep."

A very thin Maria was throwing up next to the body of a woman, who looked like she'd been walking home with groceries from the local shop. Michael's hands were shaking when they landed on her bony shoulders. Maria's groan froze them for a second before she spoke and then he removed them.

"Don't touch me, Michael," she said and spat out the last bits of her only ingested meal that day, "I'm dangerous."

"Shhh," Michael's arms quickly enveloped her smaller frame, ignoring her feeble attempts at escape, "look at me, Baby," he asked when her eyes remained closed tight.

"Don't wanna," she whispered, tears leaking out from between the closed lids without any restraint. "I don't wanna risk losing you. I'm a freak, I'm not safe and you should put me out of my misery before I end up harming another innocent person like this."

Michael didn't know what to say to make things better, and Maria continued tearfully, "I just killed an innocent woman, who was kind enough to look me in the eye and smile as she said good evening, Michael! Her biggest fear was dying without having done something worthwhile, she wanted to be doctor, Michael, a kid's doctor. I'm a horrible person; I deserve to die more than all of us put together for what I've done. You know she's not the first one I've accidentally killed. I hate this, I hate it, I just want it to stop. Please, make it stop!"

For the first time since Michael started force feeding his memories into her, Maria felt things from her other self's point of view, and an unpleasant nausea started as the emotions of guilt, despair and complete and utter self-hatred that rolled through her continuously.

For a second, Maria was utterly certain that she was going to do as her other self did and throw up right then and there all over Michael's sneakers…and then, something changed that when she thought about it later, totally blew Maria's mind.

It started with a fog, sneaking subtly in through the corners of her mind into her mindscape, blurring another heart wrenching memory of Michael being put under her powers so she could go help Liz save Max. The fog slowly thickened and tiny wisps of mist seemed to reach out to her, calling for Maria to follow. Without any real conscious thought, too damn inundated and confused by all she had seen, Maria tried to enter the fog. It was like stepping through a spider web, its sticky residue making her want to scratch even though her rational mind quickly pointed out that one couldn't scratch the mystical whatever-it-was that she was under, thanks to Michael.

A second later, Maria broke through the heavy fog and froze immediately at the sight before her. Realistically, she knew that her physical body was standing in Michael's living room, crowded by all its occupants, watching the two of them with wide and serious eyes as Michael did his best to show her what he'd never wanted her to know. But all Maria could comprehend at that moment was the fact that she seemed to actually be corporeal and inside what appeared to be a shabby house, probably long she looked closer.

The room had one occupant who was standing vigil by a shaded window, watching the night's traffic soar by. "Oh my God," Maria whispered as her eyes took in the other person's emaciated frame and unkempt hair.

Her words caused an instant reaction, and Maria watched…well, she watched herself spin around from the window and fall into what seemed like a much practiced battle stance.

A car drove by, its lights momentarily illuminating the window and darkening the older Maria long enough for the younger one to break out of her frozen mind and into a state that suited her style a lot more: Utter panic.

"Nononono! This is too weird, even for me," she whimpered, backing away from the motionless woman in front of her, who was silently watching her retreat until she hit a wall and was stopped entirely. "Look," Maria bargained, "how about you don't look at me and I pretend I'm not scared like a little girl having her first nightmare and Michael somehow gets me outta here, right now?!"

The last part was all but screamed out and Maria fully expected whatever mojo that Michael had used to answer to her and end this madness, except nothing happened.

"Michael?" OldMaria, as the younger one bluntly named her inside her head, asked, an inquiring tone to her voice that clearly stated that she wanted some answers as soon as possible or else…

"Err…Yeah, you know, Czechoslovakian, tall, spiky hair –when he remembers to do it anyway –impulsive –tends to glare..."

There was a short pause during which Maria held her breath in fear until OldMaria unexpectedly straightened out of her battle stance and broke into a gravelly laugh. "That's about right, yeah. So I guess you're not entirely alien then. Who are you?"

Maria fidgeted, looking everywhere but at OldMaria's face, not really in the mood to find out what her biggest fear truly was. "Uhm, well…I'm you, I guess."

OldMaria didn't say anything and Maria chanced a glance and caught the image of raised brows of disbelief. "Oh what the hell," Maria sighed and managed to explain everything in ten minutes, leaving the older version of her looking completely gobsmacked if the loose hanging jaw was anything to go by.

"You can look at me, you know," OldMaria's tone was sad, but truthful as she continued quietly, "I've learned some control over the years. I understand if you don't believe me, but—"

Maria looked up and caught her older self's weary gaze. It took everything in her not to gasp at the sight. OldMaria looked exhausted and for one brief second, Maria wondered if she should even be standing up as frail as she looked, but then OldMaria spoke and momentarily distracted her thoughts.

"So basically some Czechish weirdness, combined with your temper tantrum put you here."

Maria wanted to give an indignant huff, but realized that her normal antics wouldn't work or even impress a little. Instead she just rubbed her dry eyes and shook her head in incomprehensible agreement.

OldMaria's lips gave a twitch that vaguely resembled a smile, and added, "From what you're telling me, things will eventually work out. You'll go back and forgive them all because deep down you already have, you're just making a point and I can't say I'm not jealous, but I guess this way is the only way where things work out and this stupid war ends…" Her parody of a smile vanished back into the usual frown lines as she continued softly, making Maria's heart ache with phantom pains, "I'm tired of losing all my friends and family. At least this way we all get our happy ending."

"Y-You're different than I thought," Maria whispered and the old woman, because that's more or less what she had become now, smiled a much more heartfelt smile and nodded.

"Honestly, I'm happy. You've given me answers that I didn't know I wanted, but desperately longed for. Having you here gives me hope for a life without bloodshed and innocent lives lost…Have you been healed by Max?"

Maria nodded, and OldMaria sighed, her eyes radiating pity and worry, "If you get them before you're done with school, don't look at your…No, forget it - just beg Tess and the others to block them for you somehow. Liz, Serena and I worked out that she was the one ingredient missing to help me years ago. Having the Fourth would've completed their strength, the Royal Connection, and made it possible for me to not get them. Even though, I kinda still find it hard to believe that she's not a killing betraying skank in your time, I'll kiss the damn Devil himself to avoid killing anymore innocent people. Just…please, you don't want that either."

"I'm sorry you had to go through life like this," Maria muttered, not really knowing what to say, but the other woman merely shrugged.

"Don't be- truth be told, I can't deny it's come in handy from time to time, but that doesn't mean I don't wanna lose it. I mean we're all on edge lately, Max has been taken by Khivar's sadistic second-in-command and I'd like nothing more than to march out and get him back, staring Caden right in the eyes the whole time, but still…"

"Wait," Maria frowned, trying to remember every last bit of information Liz and Alex had given her back when she'd still had the patience to listen to their story, and the blurry memory from mere minutes ago filtered through to her. "Max's been taken? That-That means you're gonna…" She trailed off, suddenly too scared to say another word in case all her Back-To-The-Future knowledge happened to be true and changing the past would bring horrible consequences to her own life.

She shouldn't have bothered, because like it or not, OldMaria was her in every way and had already guessed what was gonna happen to her. "Oh," she exhaled a deep breath, "so that's how it happens."

A long moment went by in awkward silence, until OldMaria suddenly grinned manically and that, more than anything, freaked Maria out. "Well, that's great… really. I heard Liz muttering something about mounting a rescue a few hours ago before leaving to prepare our route to one of our other safe houses. Knowing what I do now, I can help her and not worry about leaving Michael behind. In the end everything will work out for the best and he'll be happy again. Thank you, Maria, you've given me a lot more peace than I've had in years, probably more than I deserve after what I've done."

"Maria," a deep, familiar voice broke through their conversation and both of them froze with fear in their hearts.

"Michael," they both whispered in tandem and looked frantically at each other. Then, Maria felt a resounding inner pain that broke out from within her and travelled through her entire body. She managed a choked groan and one last look at OldMaria, who no longer looked fearful, but a little bit happy even. In the exact second that Maria spotted the shadow of an older looking Michael appearing in the doorway, staring at OldMaria with concern, everything turned black.

Until she reopened her eyes and locked gazes with her Michael.

They stared silently at each other even as several voices around her told Maria that whatever the hell it was that she'd just experienced, Michael and her had gone through it together without anyone being able to do much of anything.

"Be quiet," Michael ordered without looking away from her and blissful silenced fell over the room. The others were confused and a little bit scared at what must have seemed like some sort of shared seizure, but Michael and Maria were calm.

A pure sense of confused relief coupled with profound sadness and growing understanding seeped into Maria's side of the bond. Without really knowing how she did it, she thought out to Michael 'I…Err, she, never stopped loving you, Michael. She didn't abandon you because she was tired of everything. She left because she knew we'd get a second chance.'

Michael's face looked stupefied, too overwhelmed with the new knowledge that was burning away the lingering anger he'd had at the original timeline's Maria's abandoning him and she continued gently, 'I am still mad at the secrecy, but I understand now. I'll get over it, but you have to promise me one thing.'

"What?" Michael immediately asked, still too shocked to use the silent method of communication, bringing with it a lot of curious looks from the others still quiet in the background.

Maria smiled, reaching out to grab hold of the hands still gripping her cheeks softly. "Help me get Tess and the other two to block my powers when they come – and the memories too…"

A brief flash of regret ran through their connection, before it was followed by understanding agreement.

"You sure?"

Maria remembered the deadened look in her older self's eyes, the quick flare of pure hope that had kept lingering there until she'd vanished as soon as she had heard that the war didn't have to happen, that she didn't have to accidentally kill someone again.

"I'm positive," she answered and did the only thing she could think off at the moment, the only thing she'd wanted ever since angrily leaving Tess' house weeks ago. She fell into Michael's arms and closed their last remaining distance with a kiss that echoed with the original timeline's Maria's hope for a better tomorrow.

TBC…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there you have it. Things getting resolved and now to tie up the loose ends...I'd love a comment on your thoughts:D
> 
> Until Next Time


	36. Kyle, Isabel, Liz and Max

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it! Please comment and tell me if you liked the story!

Kyle's POV

Things finally began to settle down after the explosive showdown with Khivar's men. The confrontation with Maria no less volatile, but that was also subsiding.

Remembering how they'd all just sat there, wanting the young woman to understand their reasons still gave Kyle a bad taste in his mouth. We sort of overpowered her, ramming our stories and beliefs down her throat, acting disappointed 'cause she didn't get it. How could she? She's the only one of us who's still slightly normal…At least until Michael somehow connected her to her former self. Now, that really blew all of our minds.

Kyle sighed, wiping his sweaty brow as he came to a stop from his run. His breath normalized quickly; he was in the best shape of his life at the moment, and he resumed his pondering. To his surprise, Maria herself had seemingly no problems with him anymore, which was weird after months of her snubbing him for being included in the "Czech-club". She now smiled tentatively at him in the school halls, and didn't object anymore if their teachers put them in the same group in class.

Frankly, it was freaking him out.

She behaved friendly; if a little cool toward all of them, except Liz for some reason. Kyle sat down to begin his stretching routine, recalling how Maria still avoided talking directly to Liz and never sat with them at lunch if she was present.

I guess it sort of makes sense, Kyle decided, groaning a little at the burn in his legs as he stretched for all his worth, she's Maria's best friend and being left out of the loop, no matter the reason, is gonna piss any decent friend off.

Kyle froze in the next moment, as a familiar truck turned onto the street and all thoughts of Maria and Liz's ongoing battle for peace or whatever it was, fled his mind completely.

Dad…Kyle swallowed a heavy lump of guilt, anger and regret all rolled into one as the police-car drew nearer and slowed down when its driver saw and recognized Kyle.

The memory of his dad from the original timeline battled on with the one from this life, how the Sheriff had all but demanded that Kyle leave his brother in arms, his friend and confidante behind because he didn't trust him after the shooting at the diner.

He's still here at least, a small part of Kyle's subconscious butted in, tearing away at the slight disappointment that he couldn't quite keep from feeling whenever he laid eyes on his father. He's not dead because he marched out into combat to buy time for the rest of us to escape. He's alive and you should really man up and remember that, Kyle told himself and awkwardly got to his feet when his dad pulled up next to him and stopped the car and got out.

"Hey, Son." The Sheriff's voice was hesitant and hoarse as they stood face to face for the first time in months. "Got a minute?"

Brushing the dirt from his pants gave Kyle a moment to figure out how to respond. He'd avoided his dad for months, ignored the calls and knocks on Michael's door that told him that angry fight or not, Jim Valenti wasn't ready to give up their relationship.

And to be honest, neither was Kyle.

"Sure," he finally murmured, taking the first step toward his dad. "Do you wanna go somewhere to talk or…"

"Anywhere you want is fine," was the eager reply, and Kyle felt a fresh surge of guilt at the sudden happiness and hope that exploded on the proud sheriff's weathered face.

"Let's go to the Crash," Kyle offered and unceremoniously got into the passenger-seat before his father could say or do much of anything.

0o0o0

Walking into the familiar diner was always sort of soothing to Kyle's nerves, and as soon as the scents of the place enveloped his senses, his heartbeat settled and he managed to give a sincere smile to his dad as they both made their way to an available booth.

Maria, who'd, walked in a few days after quitting and confidently demanded her job back from a rather guilty-looking and befuddled Jeff Parker was working that day, and she was the one to walk over to take their order.

"Hi, Kyle…Sheriff," she nodded politely at them, "can I get you something to drink?"

Kyle ordered a coke, while his dad just asked for a coffee and without another word; Maria turned and left to get it for them. Kyle watched her brush past a sad-looking Liz on her way, but decided his dad deserved more of his attention if they were ever going to figure out their differences, let alone make peace.

Just as he turned back to his father, a new, but familiar feeling blossomed in his gut, and Kyle couldn't repress a small, happy smile at its appearance. He noticed his dad's slightly confused look as he turned to look at the door, where, a second later Tess walked in with an equally bright smile on her face.

It still boggled Kyle's mind a bit, whenever he took the time to ponder the fact he was in a relationship with the Tess Harding. He'd spent more years than he cared to remember hating her with all his being, but now he was in love with her as well.

Life's truly crazy, Kyle thought as Tess' eyes landed on him and she began making her way over to him, the hate is gone, replaced by more happiness than I'd ever expected even when I was chasing after Liz when I was a teenager the first time. Hell, I used to somehow think of her as my sister for Christ's sake.

A quick flash of of all the non-sibling related things the two of them had been doing at Tess' place brought an uncomfortable lurch to his stomach, and Kyle quickly pushed those images away along with any memory of his past life's innocent feelings.

"Son?"

His dad's voice broke through Kyle's mind, and he quickly looked away from Tess and faced his dad, who looked like he'd been trying to get his attention a few times already, judging from the slightly exasperated expression he was sporting.

"Sorry, Dad."

"Don't be, Son," the Sheriff said and glanced up at Tess, who finally reached their table, "Just introduce me to this young lady of yours that brings such joy to your mopey face and all's forgiven."

The second the words left the older man's face, Kyle caught a glimpse of hesitation on his face, as if his dad wasn't quite sure he was allowed to joke so soon after their first step to reconciliation. Kyle soothed him with another smile and held out a hand for Tess as he just casually did as his dad wanted.

"Dad, this is my girlfriend, Tess Harding. Tess, this is my dad, Sheriff Jim Valenti."

Tess nodded politely with a slightly awkward tint to her expression, and Kyle knew that for just one moment she'd remembered what she'd learned of her past life, how she and Kyle had once lived together as siblings. How she'd been a second child to the man sitting across from her boyfriend and lover.

Hopefully, Kyle thought, sending a small amount of comfort and teasing amusement through their connection, this time around she'll think of him as dad in another way, as her father in law…Someday.

"Nice to meet you," Tess' voice brought Kyle back out of his mind, and he nodded his approval, eyeing his dad for any tells of what he thought.

The sheriff was blank for a second, his eyes wandering from the blonde next to Kyle and back at him. Then, a genuine smile broke through and Kyle sighed in relief, not even bothering to think how important his dad's opinion was to him still, considering they'd been estranged for such a long time.

Tess turned to him, and Kyle couldn't keep his hands from gripping her slender waist as she spoke softly to him, "I'm gonna go chat a bit with the others. Isabel is still talking about how she's going on a date with Alex tonight and I'm pretty sure Liz and Maria could use a break."

Grinning, Kyle stood up and quickly planted a kiss on her lips before sitting back down to finally have the talk he so needed with his dad.

Apparently, though, his father wasn't quite ready to jump right into it in his usual blunt manner. Instead, he was looking at Tess walking over to the counter to chat up a smiling Liz and Isabel, whose smiles only dimmed a fraction when a stone-faced Maria walked by – ignoring Liz per her usual behavior.

"You look happy, Kyle."

Kyle bit his lip for a moment before nodding. "I am."

There was a long silence that wasn't weighed down with the usual awkwardness that had been present on their drive to the Crashdown and then Kyle froze up with surprise as his dad began talking in a rush, as if eager to get everything out in the open.

"I'm sorry I tried ordering you who to see and to be friends with. I know now that Max is a good kid, and I was too caught up in my dad's crazy ramblings to even give him a shot. I know you're a great judge of character, and I should've trusted you. You're my son and I love you and I don't want us to have the same relationship I've had the last thirty years with my old man. I want us to be close again – and before you say anything," the sheriff held up a hand in case Kyle would jump in and interrupt, "I know I'm to blame for us growing apart, my job has gotten in the way over the years, but I got so obsessed with what happened with the shooting last year and how strange things got that I lost sight of the only thing that matters, and that's you, Kyle. You're the only thing in my life that I can't bear to lose. So, please come back home and let's be a family again. Or just start with a weekly visit or something, I'll try to cook some edible food and not pawn you off with fast food as usual."

"Dad…" Honestly, Kyle was gobsmacked; he had no words to describe the mixed feelings of joy and guilt he was feeling at his dad's apology.

I kept things from him, compared him to my dad from the other timeline and found him wanting, Kyle thought, licking his dry lips, and yet here's that glimpse of him that I was missing. Even though he doesn't know the truth this time around, he's still willing to let everything, but his love for me go.

For the first time, Kyle truly felt what he hadn't been willing to accept before, his dad wasn't dead. In fact, he was very much alive and willing to patch things up between them despite Kyle not making the first move.

The nervousness in the older man's eyes wasn't a good look on him, in Kyle's opinion and he decided to take his dad's olive branch for what it was and try responding maturely.

"Dad," Kyle repeated softly, reaching out a hand and planting it over the one of his dad's that laid on the table, only to remove it quickly at the startled look in the older man's eyes. It didn't surprise Kyle though, neither of them had ever really been the touching kind, it always felt awkward. Sighing quickly, Kyle continued with what he wanted to get off his chest.

"We have stuff to work on and talk about before we can truly be okay," he ignored the saddened look the otherwise so proud man sported and continued on, "but…if you try to cook food for me, we won't live long enough to do that, so I'll cook. Deal?"

Kyle pushed away the shamed sensation in his gut when his dad broke out into the single most relieved grin he'd seen in his life and nodded back to him.

"That's a deal, Son. That's a deal."

At least it's a start; Kyle thought and glanced over at Tess when he felt her send a supporting wave of emotion through their bond, which he returned quickly. Then he turned his attention back on his dad to continue their talk with something a little less serious.

"Did I tell you, I'm a Buddhist now?"

Isabel's POV

The day's shift at the Crash was over, and Isabel wanted nothing more to go home and take a long hot bath to soak away all the stench of fried food and sweat. Of course, she thought as she changed into her own clothes, I could use my powers to get clean, but it's never quite the same as a nice soak.

Maria walked in and distracted her from her happy thoughts as sadness immediately swept over her. A part of her didn't regret the end result of the intervention that Michael had mustered up to reconnect, but most of all she just hated how attacked the vibrant blonde must have felt, how alone in the midst of people she was supposed to call friends.

But, Isabel reasoned, sending a small smile Maria's way when the blonde nodded politely at her with a small smile herself, at least I've talked with Maria about it all after we had the night shift together the other day and she's willing to work on everything instead of burying it inside again.

Isabel swallowed a small grin when she briefly thought about how the blonde that she'd once despised back when she was a teenager the first time around, had ended up being one of her closest friends, her sister.

"Why do you look so cheery?" Maria's voice distracted Isabel from her own thoughts, and she broke out into a beaming smile at the memory of what was awaiting her as soon as she finished getting dressed in her own clothes again.

"As you already know, I'm going out with Alex tonight. Well," Isabel amended with a vague gesture at her own figure, "first I've gotta wash the Crash's lovely perfume of my skin at home, but then Alex's coming over to take me to a movie."

"That sounds nice," Maria's expression seemed genuine, so Isabel nodded happily, unafraid of stepping on any toes, "I wish Spaceboy could wise up and learn a little from Alex sometimes. We've spent every free moment in his apartment going over everything from BTTM."

Isabel's brow furrowed in confusion, "Err…BTTM?"

Maria's eyes glinted with amusement, and Isabel briefly lamented the fact that she hadn't seen it for so long before tuning back into what the other girl was actually saying, "Before the Timetravel Madness."

She couldn't help but break out into laughter and after a hesitant second, Maria joined in and Isabel knew that, although slowly, things were being repaired with an even better foundation than they originally experienced.

"Well, I'm gonna head out," Isabel finished putting on her jacket and grabbed her backpack with a hurried smile, "I don't wanna keep Alex waiting more than I have to."

"Have fun," Maria shook her head with a smile dancing on her lips, "don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That leaves it pretty open, don't you think?" Isabel snarked and barely avoided a mock punch to the arm as she danced through the door and out into the alleyway that lay behind the Crash. She had a much anticipated date to get ready for.

0o0o0

An hour later, Isabel was just putting the finishing touches on her hair when she absentmindedly tweaked the color of her dress to red as she remembered Alex's fondness for her in that particular color.

The doorbell interrupted one of the few truly fond memories she had of her first life in Roswell and the dream she'd walked in on way back when she was snooping on Alex.

"I'll get it!" Isabel all but screamed, jogging down the stairs with her heels firmly clasped in her hand. For the first time since arriving back in time, Isabel truly felt like a young girl, eager for an innocent date and shy glances. She was distracted by her own eager fantasies, and her mother easily cut in front of Isabel with teasing laughter erupting from her lips, when she reached the front door first to let Alex in.

"Good evening, Alex," Dianne greeted the tall teenager, whose eyes had immediately landed on Isabel standing behind her smaller mother. "Come on in, Isabel's just getting ready."

In that moment, the house phone rang and Dianne excused herself, leaving Isabel and Alex smiling lovingly at each other.

"Hi," Isabel said, looking at the dress pants and tight-fitting shirt that she'd bought him as a gift a few days earlier when she'd dragged him to the mall for some retail-therapy slash training his powers in large crowds with the myriad of emotions that come with them. "You look nice."

The bashful shrug that Alex sent her, made Isabel want to just give him a big hug and kiss. His lack of self-awareness about his cuteness was adorable and she hoped he never lost it.

"Stop that," Alex grinned when some of Isabel's feelings transferred to him both through their bond and his powers at the same time. Before she could say anything else, Alex continued with a soft look in his eyes that made Isabel's heart thump irregularly. "You look beautiful, Isabel."

Isabel basked in the whole concept of dating Alex, finally having forgiven herself for fighting her attraction to the human in the original timeline.

"Well, let's go, shall we?" She smiled and held out a hand for him to take, but just as their skin connected, Isabel's mom came back from the kitchen and stopped them from leaving.

"Isabel, honey, I need a big favor." Her eyes imploring Isabel to listen as she continued quickly, "I'm so sorry to do this, but Dad just called. He needs a file from his study, and since I promised you the car and Max is at Michael's place," Isabel barely stopped herself from scoffing, knowing full well that her brother was in fact at Liz's place, probably having the time of his life, "I can't bring it to him…unless you want to wait here while I drive over to his office with the papers?"

Dianne's small knowing smile turned a little devious as she added innocently, "You know I always drive a bit slower at night, afraid of having an accident. Which in turn would make me late to Phil's office and that'll probably prompt him to ask me if I'm okay and that'll only expand upon your delay with your plans for the night and—"

"Fine!" Isabel held out her free hand for her dad's file, "I'll go, drop the guilt trip, Mom. Geez." Ignoring her mom's triumphant grin, Isabel muttered annoyed, "What does he need a file for this late, anyhow? It's after eight o'clock; he should be home by now."

Alex's chuckle beside her didn't completely eliminate Isabel's irritation, but she calmed down and even managed a returning smile when her mother handed her the file and the keys to her car at the same time.

"Well, Dad's busier than ever, which is good for everyone, but he's finally come to the realization that he needs some help and he's meeting with some new lawyers, trying to see if he can find a perfect match for the firm, but two of the applicants could only fit in the interview tonight due to other arrangements. Apparently, they were talking about a current case that's been bugging Phil and one of the applicants was very interested in helping out regardless of the hiring situation…or something, you know I tend to tune out your dad when he gets too excited."

This time, Isabel did break out into a grin, knowing full well that an excited Phil Evans was like a little kid in a candy store, something her mother had long lost her patience for. "I'll drop it off as quickly as I can. I'll be home no later than twelve."

Dianne smirked, "Nice try, Sweetie." She sent a mock-glare at Alex, who could undoubtedly feel her seriousness underneath and looked back somberly, "Have my daughter home no later than eleven."

"Yes, Ma'am." Alex nodded and Isabel groaned and hurried for the door, before her mother could delay them any further.

"Let's get this over with, so we can continue with our plans."

'It's only gonna be a few minutes, Isabel,' Alex thought out to her and Isabel nodded, getting into her mom's car as fast as she could.

"Yeah, you're right," Isabel answered, "in a few minutes, we'll finally have our alone time and all will be right with the world again."

0o0o0

The drive to her dad's office took about ten minutes, and Isabel all but jumped out of the car when she parked in front of the building. "I'll only be a few minutes," she smiled at Alex, who remained seated. "If I don't take you with me, chances are we won't have to waste more time while parental unit number two questions your intentions. We're lucky enough that Mom was too preoccupied by teasing me tonight, you know."

"Yeah," Alex said, casually leaning back in the passenger's seat. "I'll wait right here. Don't worry about keeping me waiting, we've still got," he looked at his wristwatch with a grin dancing on his lips, "until eleven after all…"

"Shut up," Isabel laughed and shut the car door before turning to head inside to her dad's office.

A few minutes later, as she entered the small lobby that was the waiting area, Isabel felt the smile drain away as if it had never even been there when she heard a familiar voice. A voice that she'd had no idea was still so perfectly ingrained in her memory that she could recall every little nuance of it.

"Jesse." Isabel whispered softly, half-frozen between wanting to escape from the man she'd once called husband and run into his arms to just be held once more.

How can I feel like this? Isabel wondered, still trapped mid-movement, I love Alex! He's everything to me. I can't feel anything for Jesse anymore, I've already challenged his devotion to me with Kyle, I can't bring Jesse into it now. I-

"Izzie?" Her dad's voice broke through the rising panic Isabel was feeling and she looked up from the floor with a jolt, afraid of looking at the tall figure she sensed was standing beside him.

Despite her best efforts, Isabel's eyes slowly turned to lock with Jesse's dark ones, and she felt a wave of confused emotion crash over her, jumbled together with old love she'd avoided thinking about with all her might and guilt.

Oh my God, Isabel frowned, he looks so young. She eyed her husband-from-another-life and had a small epiphany. Holy— That sheepish smile, those friendly eyes, they're just like Alex's. I guess, I was looking for a part of him to love when he died and found it in Jesse. I can't believe I didn't realize that until now, I always thought they were nothing alike and that it was a good thing 'cause it proved that my love for Alex was just a child's love. I thought I loved Jesse for all the things he wasn't, and now I can immediately spot that I was wrong, I loved Jesse for how he subconsciously reminded me of my soul-mate.

"Izzie, don't be rude," her dad's voice broke through Isabel's frantic mind, and with great strength, she finally broke the stare she'd forced on Jesse and looked back over at her father.

"I'm sorry, I was just surprised to see someone so young interviewing for a job here in boring old Roswell, New Mexico, that's all."

Her dad's narrowed gaze told Isabel that her fib wasn't entirely believed, but fortunately they were not angrily suspicious as she clearly recalled them being in the last timeline before they'd been forced to let him know the truth with the Air Force and the F.B.I breathing down their necks.

Eventually, the Evans patriarch simply shook his head at her teasing and turned to Jesse and introduced her to him and vice versa. Jesse straightened up and walked over with his hand reached out. Judging from the way his eyes lingered at certain aspects of her body, Isabel knew he liked what he was seeing, and it did send a small rush of old memories filled with passion and fire down her spine. And yet, Isabel realized when she unceremoniously grabbed her once-husband's hand to shake and then calmly released it without any lingering effect, it was surprisingly easy to shake off the feelings and focus on the human boy waiting patiently outside in her mom's car.

"Nice to meet you," Jesse greeted, and Isabel smiled friendly enough before handing her dad the file that she was actually there to deliver.

"I hope your interview goes well," she muttered to Jesse, whose eyes dimmed with disappointment when she continued speaking clearer to her dad, "I'm gonna head off. Alex's waiting for me downstairs for our date."

Phil chuckled, "Well, I hope your night's gonna be fun, Honey, but not too fun. I'm much too young to be a grandpa, you know. Although, I'm sure Alex's not gonna give me any unwanted grey hairs, he's got a nice head on his shoulders that one. He's a good kid."

Isabel smiled and then forced herself to look back at Jesse with none of her old memories showing in her gaze. "Welcome to Roswell, and for what it's worth, I think you made a right decision in choosing my dad to work for. He's the best."

Jesse smiled, his disappointment from before nowhere to be seen. He'd clearly written her off as untouchable with Phil's praise of Alex and her own obvious happiness at the thought of the boy.

"Thanks, I think so too. It was nice meeting you, Isabel."

Mutely, Isabel just nodded and went over and kissed her dad's cheek before quickly leaving. A few minutes later, she arrived back outside and stopped mid-movement when she saw Alex casually waiting, leaning against the hood of the car and eyeing the entrance with an intense look in his eyes.

"H-Hi," Isabel said, hesitating to move closer under a fresh rush of guilt. Guilt that despite her heart's true desire to be with Alex, there had been a part of her, however small, that had truly delighted in seeing the man she'd chosen for a spouse in her other life.

Alex blinked, and the intensity from his eyes seemed to dim a little, pulled back by the will of his natural softness. "Whatever it is that has you so conflicted," he began, pushing himself off of the car to walk over to her, "don't worry, we'll work it out."

Smiling sadly, Isabel was about to give a generic answer of agreement, when Alex's large hands landed gently on her cheeks, tilting her head up a little. Clearly, he wasn't about to let her lie or wheedle her way out of an honest conversation.

"Isabel," his voice had an almost hypnotic effect on her, and the blonde time traveler found herself unable to blink or look away as their eyes locked, "Like I've said before, I'm not gonna leave – whatever it is, we'll work it out and when you're ready, I'll listen. Stop trying to protect me, and just be with me completely."

His lips twitched and broke the heavy air around them as he released her face after a quick caress, "In case you haven't noticed," Alex continued, "I'm not the same geek you first fell for. I'm capable of handling things beyond the terror of trying to avoid P.E."

Memories of the past that she'd traveled away from ran through Isabel's mind in a matter of seconds. She couldn't keep a smile from appearing on her face, when the image of her beloved Alex, lying dead, bloodied and frail inside that coroners van that she'd snuck into after Max couldn't revive, was ever so slowly being erased by the present time Alex and his silent strength that seemed to envelope her in long sought after security and above all, love.

"I've noticed," Isabel whispered, leaning forward and pressing her lips against Alex's. A moment later, she drew back and stepped over to the driver's side of her mom's car. "Let's go, I was promised a first class date night and I intend to collect."

Alex's grin was like a soothing balm over the wounds on Isabel's soul. Some of those wounds had been opened that night by the presence of Jesse, but there were no longer any lingering doubts about "what if's" in Isabel, she had finally gotten the one thing she'd defied death to get.

The one man she truly loved.

"Well, Miss Evans," Alex's voice brought her back to the now and Isabel watched him get inside the car before following quickly, "we Whitman's always deliver on our promises, you can count on that."

"Oh, I will," Isabel chuckled and started the engine to drive off to the long-awaited night they'd both looked so forward to.

Liz's POV

"Why don't you just sit her down and talk everything through?"

It was only Liz's undeniable love for the man she had once called her husband that stopped her from glaring over her naked shoulder at him as he made his way from the bathroom to the bed in the bedroom that had been given to them by Tess. It was a place that the two lovers had spent a lot of their free time in, getting comfortable with the fact that despite everything, they were united once more.

She did roll her eyes though.

"Do you even know Maria, Max?" Liz asked, wrapping her robe tighter against her as she stood up from the vanity and made her way over to the bed as well. They'd told their parents that Tess was having a co-ed sleepover and they'd been invited. In a way it was true, because at that point in time, Kyle was downstairs with Tess, regaling her with stories about the man his dad had been in the other timeline. "I'd like to think so," replied Max with a small smile. Liz rolled her eyes again, this time with a fond smile dancing on her lips.

"I do know her more than anyone, perhaps except Michael. That's why I can honestly say, with deep love and affection in every word, Maria is a stubborn and vindictive girl, whose anger doesn't stop for anything. Not even me."

Max frowned and soothingly rubbed her shoulders, trying to take the tension away. "That's a bit harsh, don't you think? She's got a right to be angry, I'll admit that, but—"

"There's nothing wrong with Maria being angry at us, at me especially. She's right, you know, about everything really…" Liz's eyes dimmed with sadness and she twisted away from Max's hands, not willing to accept the comfort they provided.

"Right about what?" Max sounded confused as he leaned back against the headboard and just watched her with those dark eyes that seemed se see into her very soul.

"I'm not her friend anymore. I'm not Liz Parker, the paranoid girl trying to uncover secrets of the boy she not so secretly liked; I'm not the friend she knows she can lean on in times of need anymore. I'm the woman that died and came back, I'm the woman that instantly seemed to side with the aliens that she hadn't still one hundred percent understood. I'm the woman that completely attacked her for being what I'm not fully anymore, a sixteen year old girl. I'm mentally older than her mother. I'm not her best friend anymore."

Max smiled a soft little smile, and Liz felt the comfort she'd refused psychically go through their connection in a warm rush of pure relief. "Don't worry," he said, and Liz sighed while he continued, "I may not know Maria as well as you do, but I do know that neither of you can truly be mad at each other for long periods of time. You may not entirely remember this, Liz, but Maria died in the war by your side, following you into battle to save me. She knew the risks. She didn't have to go with you, she could've survived staying behind and lending strategic advice to the Unit, but she didn't. The thought of losing you was unbearable to her – she even used her powers on Michael to come to your side – deliberately, and you know how she hated those powers back then."

Liz frowned, lying down next to Max, thinking. I never knew that…

A moment later, Liz abruptly sat back up and all but jumped out of the bed. A few seconds later, she had redressed in her shirt and jeans, and was struggling with her shoes, jumping around on one foot in her hurry.

"What are you doing?"

To call Max's tone bemused was an understatement, and Liz sent him a smile as she balanced on one foot, finishing getting dressed. "I'm gonna go over to her and annoy her till she forgives me," Liz smiled beatifically, looking ever so innocent in the process, "it's what she would have done if the roles had been reversed."

"Really?"

"Yup, see you, love you, and don't wait up!" And with that, Liz ran from the room, bouldering down the stairs and interrupting what looked like quite a heated moment between Tess and Kyle, who jumped away from each other like they had something to hide.

The look of mixed guilt and defensiveness in Kyle's eyes, managed to halt Liz in her tracks for a second. Impulsively, she walked over and hugged her childhood boyfriend fiercely, somehow knowing what his problem was.

"I know you love her, and I'm not going to ruin that, Kyle. She's not that person anymore; heck, she's one of my best friends and I never thought I'd say this, but I love the fact that you two are together."

And you won't have to pine unsuccessfully over Isabel any more, Liz continued silently, and, with a quick hug for a confused Tess, Liz left the Harding house to continue on with her self-appointed mission: Getting Maria back.

0o0o0

After making the necessary pit stop at the local supermarket for some much needed ice cream therapy, Liz now stood in front of the DeLuca home. Suddenly, she was feeling nervous and unsure.

What if it's all for nothing? What if she won't breach the gap between us no matter what I do?

In the midst of Liz's growing panic moment, the door she was standing in front abruptly opened and Maria's mom nearly collided with her before Liz had the forethought to actually move out of the way. She had to stomp down the instinct to ignite her old powers of deadly electricity, still not entirely used to them not being there.

"Oh, Liz! Hey, Honey," Amy DeLuca greeted cheerfully, her distracted mind seemingly only just noticing Liz. "It's been a while since I've seen you around these parts," she added with a questioning look in her eyes, "did you and Maria have a falling out?"

"Uh," Liz started, only to nod sheepishly when Amy's eyes traveled down to the ice-cream in her hands.

"Say no more," the mother smiled knowingly, "Ice-cream therapy…Well, I'm going to a job interview – someone's heard about my pies and may want me to cater their party, so…See you later, Sweetie."

And with that, and a quick peck on the cheek, Amy vanished as quickly as she'd come, leaving Liz to stare at the still half-open front door that the other brunette had left behind in her hurry.

Well, Liz thought, straightening her shoulders, here goes nothing…

Liz walked through the door and closed it quietly behind her, before making her way into Maria's room, where the blonde was busy doing what looked like her math homework.

"Hi," Liz decided to be proactive, before Maria looked up and spotted her staring at her. They had enough issues without needing to add to it by Maria thinking she was creepy too.

Judging from the epic glare the other girl sent her way, she didn't even seem to think about that.

"I didn't invite you," Maria's tone was bland, albeit cold and it was the coldness that got to Liz more than anything. Maria was a lot of things, but cold wasn't one of them.

"Maria," Liz began, suddenly stumped as to what to do next. Her initial plan to get them talking over ice cream seemed juvenile and naïve all of the sudden, but it was all she had. "I…Can we talk?" She lifted the ice cream in her hand, "I've got your favorite…"

"I'm not hungry." Maria's eyes lingered a little too long at the chocolate goodness in her arms for Liz to believe it to be completely truthful.

"Well, I guess I'll just go eat it all by myself, maybe put a scoop over one of your mom's banana cream pies that I know she always has in the fridge."

"Fine," Maria huffed, jumping to her feet, "I'll get the bowls, you get the spoons."

Five minutes later, found the two women sitting in the small kitchen, eyeing each other closely with each of their own bowl of deliciously melting ice cream.

"I know you're mad," Liz finally began after another couple of minutes with heavy silence and wary glances. "You've got every right to be, but at the same time I want you to know that I'm not sorry for what I did. But," she held up her hand with the spoon in it to emphasize her point, "I'm sorry for letting you down."

Maria frowned," If you're not here to apologize for your little 'You're such a child,' intervention, what are you even doing here in the first place? I'm not really interested in hearing your reasons right now, whenever I think about it, I still want to beat you with my hairbrush or something along those lines."

Liz smiled a sad smile and pushed her bowl aside and leaned forward a bit, "I'm sorry for letting my old self take over when it comes to our friendship. To be honest, Maria this whole coming back thing hasn't exactly been easy for me either."

Maria rolled her eyes, and one tiny spark of annoyance began to glow inside of Liz. I always hated how she gets on her high horse during fights and won't listen to reason until she's had me groveling just long enough to make me feel humiliated…

"Look," Liz sighed, sidelined her irritation with the knowledge that Maria was more than likely feeling the same thing. "Believe me, don't believe me, but I know it's been difficult—"

"To me it seems like the only thing that's been difficult for you is separating yourself from Max Evans long enough to look the part of an independent girl with big dreams of college and living the dream."

"Maria," Liz began, her own tone taking on an edge of anger that the blonde didn't hesitate to pick up on.

"Don't, "Maria", me, Liz. You have no idea how I feel. Over the last couple of months things have gone weird beyond belief, I've fallen in love with an alien with a truckload of issues that I've only recently started to figure out and I had to watch the one person in the world I trusted more than anyone get her throat slit and walk away from that unharmed, yet different. Ever since that day in the desert fighting the Skins and whatever, you've never once stopped looking at me like a child. To top it all off, I was ambushed by my closest friends on your say so and ended up talking to an anorexic, and suicidal-looking, version of myself that was the only one that ever told me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And then you have the gall to sit there and tell me you're not even the least bit sorry! Get out, Liz!"

Liz felt horrified, saddened that her actions had brought about such a change in their lifelong friendship. And I can't put the blame anywhere else than at my own feet, Liz realized as she stood up, halfway tempted to just sit down on the floor and wail like the child Maria thought she saw her as.

In the end, Liz did the only thing she could. She spoke from her heart, tears beginning to well up in her eyes at the thought of ending the friendship that had carried her through more than a few rough times in her life.

"I know you think I'm horrible," she began softly, unable to look away from the angry gaze Maria kept fixated on her, "and I know I could've handled things better, but what you don't understand is that no matter what you think, I'm scared. Scared of being here in a body that rightfully belongs to another part of me. I'm so scared of losing you that I ended up pushing you away without even realizing that I did it and yeah," Liz ran a hand through her hair in frustration, "I'm not sorry that my decision to force you back into the fold or whatever you want to call it, got you to finally realize what's been going on, I do regret the way it all played out, but despite what you seem to think, Maria, I'm not perfect, and I don't know everything! I can make mistakes just like anyone else."

Maria looked frozen as Liz stood immobile in front of her sitting form, desperately fighting away tears that seemed to want to keep coming. A minute with heavy silence passed before the blonde finally stood up herself.

"We need to agree that what you did, no - how you did what you did, was wrong."

Liz frowned, not quite getting her friend's words at first. Maria didn't notice, continuing on quietly with an unusually somber expression on her face.

"I'm tired of being angry at you, Liz. I'm not saying I've forgiven you, and it's going to be a while before we'll get back what we've lost, if ever...But," Maria added when Liz looked away, too sad to handle any more eye contact. "But, I'm willing to sit down and talk it out, try to figure out how to mend things a little so I'm not so goddamned angry and hurt whenever I look at you. You will have to sit there and listen to what I say without judging me, without jumping in with excuses and demands, because this will be about my feelings, all of them mixed with a huge dose of teenage angst too. Can you handle that? Are you willing to listen to me long enough so we can rebuild our friendship on this new Czechoslovakian reality of ours?"

Liz sighed, her tears drying on her cheeks as she looked back up at Maria. "It's gonna take a while."

Maria's lips twitched, "It's gonna get ugly."

"And probably loud," Liz continued and made Maria break into the first honest smile she'd seen since ambushing her in Michael's apartment.

"It's going to require more ice-cream," Maria said, nodding at the melting pile in the bowls that had remained basically untouched since being scooped in there.

Without a word, Liz took out her phone and called Max to go on an ice-cream errand for her, and hung up with a quick, "I love you," before looking over at Maria with a smile of her own when the blonde simply rolled her eyes.

"That boy is so whipped that he makes the rest of the male population look bad..."

Liz smiled, as she always did when her thoughts wandered to Max, and Maria chuckled softly, for the moment keeping a temporary truce until Max came and delivered the requested ice-cream and left. Fifteen minutes later, both young women once again sat in front of each other, looking serious.

Maria took a deep breath and Liz tried not to hold hers when her friend started speaking. "I guess you could say that I've been avoiding you because every time I look at you I'm reminded that my Liz is gone for good and..."

Max's POV

It was early evening and the group was all gathered in the Crash. Maria, Isabel and Liz were all off duty for once at the same time and they'd decided to get the rest of them together for a unofficial celebratory dinner, marking the one year mark since Max, Isabel and Michael had come back in time to change things from pure disaster to peace.

I can't believe it's been a year already, Max thought, eyeing Liz, who was smiling widely at Maria, who was busy exclaiming something or other about something no doubt teasingly offensive that Michael had put her through during their date the night before. It had taken time and a lot of effort between Liz and Maria before they could honestly say that their friendship was repaired. There was a lot of yelling, crying and on one occasion even a little hair pulling before they'd mended things enough to finally put everything behind them enough to look forward to the future instead, and none were happier for them then Max and Michael, who felt they could relax again.

At long last we can all just enjoy being together and alive and out of danger, Max thought to himself, reluctantly looking away from his fiancé of just two weeks. He still wasn't used to them being officially engaged, especially since Liz's dad, Jeff had had no issues whatsoever with them being together this time around.

Isabel's loud belly laugh interrupted his thoughts, and Max looked at his sister, whose genuine happiness seemed to radiate from her entire being. She was sitting next to Alex, who echoed her joy. The two of them had had their ups and downs, Alex's powers making their arguments all the more hard for them to get through. Now though, both of them seemed to have found their niche and Isabel had foregone early graduation this time around to spend as much time with Alex, centering him in ways none of the rest of them could even hope to achieve.

Max frowned a little when he recalled how Isabel's continued ambivalence in regards to the Phoenix kids had brought Alex storming into Max's room, threatening him with angry eyes and choking powers to stop upsetting her. It had taken Max's own considerable strength to stop the tall human from doing something he'd regret.

The thought of the Phoenix kids brought Serena to the forefront of Max's mind, and he couldn't stop himself from feeling a fleeting stab of pain that got Liz's attention, as well as Alex's. His smile and sheepish shrug soon distracted them, and they looked back to the one they'd been talking to.

I've done what she wanted, Max recalled the kids that Michael, Kyle, Tess and he had travelled all across the country to heal during the last few months under the disguise of going to look at colleges. Serena wanted her friends saved and it's finally done now. Sydney was the last one and with the help of Tess none of them remembered anything other than a fuzzy dream that will get them to call me if their powers show.

Max ignored the voice inside of him that changed the 'if' to 'when' and took a bite of his tabasco infused chocolate cake with all of the appetite of the teenage male he was once more.

"You okay?" Kyle's voice broke through Max's thoughts and he looked over at one of the humans they'd travelled for in the first place.

"Yeah, just thinking about how happy I am that we succeeded in our mission to change things, you know." As soon as he said it, Max realized that he wasn't even lying – as an undercurrent the thoughts kept swirling in his mind, bringing up the differences they'd caused.

Some were expected and some weren't, Max smiled wryly and turned more fully to Kyle, when he laughed out, "Yeah, I'm happier now than I'd ever imagined that I'd be. Especially since if you hadn't come back here last year, yours truly would still be six feet under…Or floating in microforms in the sky since I was kinda blown to pieces."

"Kyle," Tess' stern tone of voice made the human flinch a little, and Max smiled when the blonde hybrid tore into him for even mentioning the way he'd died, apparently they'd agreed never to think about it again.

That is definitely one of the most unexpected things to have changed, Max decided fondly, his old memories of the harm his once-upon-a-time-wife had caused all but erased in the face of the smiling, caring and above all in love girl she'd become.

Tess had completed her transition into being a true part of the Royal Four, her powers ending up doing as her other self had once claimed; strengthening them all. Her relationship with Kyle grounded them both in ways neither – or anyone else – had anticipated. There had been a few issues with getting the Sheriff to accept the fact that his child had basically lived in his girlfriend's house, but somehow Tess had worked her magic and the Sheriff was content with them as well.

Well, Max amended, looking away to gaze at Michael, who was grinning uncharacteristically wide at Liz, who seemed to be getting teased mercilessly by Maria. As long as Kyle keeps up the pretense of actually sleeping at his childhood home now and again…

Michael broke off his laugh when he seemed to feel Max's eyes on him, and the two childhood friends locked eyes for a brief moment before the larger hybrid refocused on Maria and Liz. There was a sense of tiredness shining through Michael, and Max knew it was because of the news he'd received only three weeks earlier.

Hank had passed away. Though, not due to his drinking problem. He'd successfully quit drinking, and had been doing his damndest to make amends to the kid he'd neglected and abused, and Michael had, if not forgiven him, than at least had been working on doing that, hanging out with his foster dad, helping him fix up the trailer they'd both pretty much abandoned after Hank had gone away to rehab.

And then he ends up redeeming himself in ways none would ever have imagined, Max thought.

Hank had been leaving a job interview, about to get into his beat up truck, when a kid had run into the main road, tripping on her shoelaces. Minutes later, Hank lay dead and broken by the side of the road, having run out in front of an incoming van and pushed the child out of harm's way of what had later been revealed to be a drunk driver.

Max swallowed a lump when when he remembered Michael's face when receiving the news. He'd never in a million years expected anyone to grieve for Hank, let alone Michael, but his friend had gone deathly pale when he'd gotten the news and had wandered off to process it. In the end, it had only been Maria's closeness and silent support that got him back to himself.

I guess planning a funeral catapulted a lot of memories back into the front of his mind on top of everything – it's been tough on him, Max thought with sympathy.

'What are you thinking about that's making you look and feel so glum?' Liz's voice in his head surprised him, and he looked over at her to see her looking gently at him.

'Hank…Serena, the Unit, you know the usual'.

'Stop being so solemn,' Liz ordered with a soft smile in his direction as Maria tried to get her attention, 'things are far better than they were at the same time in the original timeline, so instead of focusing so much on the bad stuff, be grateful for the successes.'

'I am,' Max replied, sending a hint of exasperation through their bond. Liz was adamant in trying to get everyone happy, casting off the shackles of their brutal past as quickly as possible.

'There's something else though,' Liz's eyes met his, and like always, Max had a hard time omitting anything from her.

'I'm just a little bit worried despite all we've accomplished. I guess it's a habit that's gonna be hard to let go off. I still have a lot to process.'

Liz's expression took on a serious edge, and in that moment, she looked eerily like the woman she was on the inside and not the carefree teenager she was trying to be. 'You're still thinking about what we talked about the other night, about my theory?'

'It's been on my mind, yeah,' Max admitted, looking away from those brown eyes that didn't need a bond to look into his very soul.

'Oh, Max,' Liz s sigh was more mental than physical, and Max felt a little sheepish about his obsessive behavior. 'Let it go, Max, it's not going to affect us. In fact, I'd say it' a good thing, you know.'

Max smiled and mentally agreed, knowing that she was right. He decided to stop thinking and just enjoy their evening with their friends. It was harder than he really wanted to admit and after a few minutes, Max stood up to go to the restroom and clear his head fully.

"Where are you going, Maxwell?" Michael's question brought a momentary hush at the table with it, and Max rolled his eyes as he pointed to the restroom. That in turn kick started the conversations back up and Max quietly walked the short distance and locked the door behind him with a sigh.

He looked at himself in the mirror, something he still wasn't that fond of, the reflective image of his younger, and arguably more innocent self stared back at him with eyes that had seen too much.

"Why can't you just stop thinking?" Max asked himself. Even as he asked himself that question the memory of Liz revealing her knowledge of why she and Kyle were remembering the previous timeline, and even more surprisingly her theory on the sudden power increase the time travelers, and him in particular, had gained from their jump through time.

He couldn't remember how the conversation even got started, but he'd been sitting with Liz on her terrace, looking at the stars for a science project in school they both knew they'd ace without really trying and thus simply enjoyed a way to spend official time together.

One thing led to another and all of the sudden she'd blurted out that she knew why their memories were back. Apparently, she and Serena had dug a little deeper into the book that Tess had killed Alex to translate – except with Serena there, they were reading the original and not the translated bundle of papers.

"The bond between us couples is so rare that the book devoted a whole chapter to it," Liz told him with wide eyes, "even on Antar it's seen as something sacred and something all couples should aspire too. The bond between us never ends, which is probably why Kyle and Tess and Isabel and Alex got together so abruptly when you returned, the bonds reaching out through dimensions to reconnect or something."

When Max had frowned and asked her to elaborate about the memories specifically, Liz had shrugged and explained plainly, "From what I found out with Serena's help, our souls are sort of locked together the moment they connect, meaning that if one leaves the other follows and tries to restore balance. So…" Liz shrugged again, scribbling something on her notepad as she spoke again, "it would need a foundation though to come through like it's done with Kyle and I, danger, fear and love fueling the instinct to come together again, coupled with power."

Max hadn't gotten a chance to ask what she meant, before Liz explained further, "Power was never an issue. When we came here our souls were still in our younger bodies and they merged and that means we've got power times two this time around and that made it easier for our older souls' memories to return to their rightful owner…I still don't know how Maria's fighting it off, maybe her soul remembers the fear of her future power and refuses to grant the memories access to her younger self, or something, I don't know…"

A knock on the restroom door interrupted Max, and he quickly splashed some cold water on his face and opened up the door with a smile.

"Max," Alex stood in front of him with a raised brow, "I'm begging you to stop thinking so much, my friend. You're infecting Liz, who's bumming Maria out and that means Michael and so on."

"Sorry," Max grinned apologetically, sending another dose of loving apologies through the bond to Liz, "I'm good now."

A moment later, both men had arrived back at the booth and their friends. Out of the corner of his eye, Max noticed that Liz was on the phone and turned to look at a silently smiling Isabel and Michael.

"What?" He asked and both of them looked at him, still not losing their smiles. "What is it?" He asked again, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"We talked about it over the last year, when you weren't around," Isabel began and Michael took over.

"We decided we never really thanked you, and we wanna do that now, on this anniversary."

"Thank me for what?" the annoyance was quickly being replaced with confusion, and Max eyed his two fellow travelers.

"It was your idea that catapulted this whole thing." Michael said, while Isabel nodded with tears in her eyes. "If you hadn't known the thing about using the Granolith for time travel, we'd probably be dead by now. Hell, I have no doubt I'd prefer being dead over going back to that place."

"Yeah," Isabel leaned over and embraced her brother forcefully, "we would've died in that damn cave if you hadn't gotten the idea, and this life is so much better now. I've never been happier and I know you two feel the same way."

Michael nodded without hesitation and slapped Max on the shoulder, evidently still not as touchy-feely as the female hybrid was. "Yeah, so thanks."

Max had to blink a little extra for a few seconds, feeling touched beyond belief. "I couldn't have done any of it alone, you know. Without you two by my side, I would've given up the second Liz died. Nothing else could inspire me to fight as much as trying to save the last of my family, hoping for a better outcome. So thanks right back at you. And I'd do it all over again."

The trio smiled at each other, and Max felt a serene sensation wash over him. The war may not be over on Antar, Khivar could ignore his warnings and still try to come after them, but none of that mattered in that moment. They were all here and alive, and by all he held dear, Max was willing to fight for it to stay that way.

But luckily, he thought leaning back in his seat with a contented sigh, there's no sign of trouble at the moment, every one of us is happier now than we were a year ago, and overall things seem peaceful. I could get used to that.

Liz called his name, and Max broke out of his self-contented state of mind to look over at his fiancé, who was holding her cell phone out to him. "It's Grandma Claudia," she explained, looking a little mischievous, "she wants to talk to you."

Feeling a little apprehensive, Max took the phone and held it to his ear. "Good evening, Mrs. Parker."

"Hiya Honey," Claudia southern accented voice sounded in his ear, "I just wanted to talk to ya and once more thank you for fixing up my ticker last year, it's still doing fine. My doctor thinks of me as his miracle client, and even let me eat red meat again, so thanks."

"Err…You're welcome," Max answered, confused and pleased at the same time. "Glad to hear things are going good."

"Well, about that – there is something important I want to ask ya." Claudia's tone changed became a little sterner, and Max could easily imagine the small woman performing civil arrests with her strong personality alone as back-up. In the next second, Max's jaw dropped and his eyes sought out Liz's, who were smiling teasingly at him, probably already having heard her grandma's dilemma.

"Mind telling me, why I heard my cat cussing out the neighbor's dog just now?"

THE END…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N So, I hope this entertained most of you, I know some will absolutely hate it, but I think it needed to end on a funny note:D I've loved writing this, I've felt so included in the Roswell community where people have welcomed me with open arms and smiles. I love you all and thank you for giving me a chance and responding so well to my crazy ideas. I love that I ended up being original in this massive fandom with a few of my twists (Serena, the Phoenix kids *cough*).
> 
> Thank you so much, it's been an experience I wouldn't have missed for the world!
> 
> Until whenever
> 
> ALSO:
> 
> In case you're wondering: Courtney found a usable husk, aided by Max and Michael to make it fit perfectly. She now travels the world to make sure none of Khivar's men remain. Nasedo and his fellow Antarian Langley live in L.A. more or less in peace, fighting each other more than anything. Nasedo's plans derailed he's had to actually come to terms to live on earth for once.
> 
> The would-have-been alien hunter couple from the shooting, the mindwarp worked- End of story. They are now married and expecting.


End file.
